# $10\times10$ table of numbers with differences of adjacent entries no more than 5

In each square in a table $10\times 10$ we write a whole number so the difference between any two numbers by the neighboring squares must be no more than $5$ (two squares are neighboring if they have a common side). Show that two of the numbers must be equal. Please help me!

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What have you tried? –  Matthew Pressland Feb 28 '13 at 18:33

## 1 Answer

Suppose all the numbers were different (say, numbered from 1 to 100, because anything farther is automatically impossible if that case is). How would you place the numbers down to minimize their differences? Are all these differences less than 5? Can you prove that it's impossible?

Solution: Write the number 1 on the top-left corner, and the number 100 on the bottom-right. The distance between 1 and 100 is 18 squares. So, trace out any path from 1 to 100 that is 18 squares long. Since the difference between consecutive squares is at most 5, the difference between the first and last squares along this path is at most 90, so a difference of 99 (from 1 to 100) is impossible.

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Please give me a complete demonstration. –  Manuel Feb 28 '13 at 21:08
Done. ${}{}{}{}{}{}{}$ –  Joe Z. Feb 28 '13 at 21:21
Well done, Joe --- now Manuel can just hand this in as his own work, without putting even a smidgen of effort into it, or having learned anything at all from it. He'll be back for more. –  Gerry Myerson Feb 28 '13 at 21:44
I was simply assuming good faith. He had two hours to do it himself. –  Joe Z. Mar 1 '13 at 0:06