GATE | GATE-CS-2014-(Set-3) | Question 47

Suppose you want to move from 0 to 100 on the number line. In each step, you either move right by a unit distance or you take a shortcut. A shortcut is simply a pre-specified pair of integers i, j with i < j. Given a shortcut i, j if you are at position i on the number line, you may directly move to j. Suppose T(k) denotes the smallest number of steps needed to move from k to 100. Suppose further that there is at most 1 shortcut involving any number, and in particular from 9 there is a shortcut to 15. Let y and z be such that T(9) = 1 + min(T(y), T(z)). Then the value of the product yz is _____.