Problem

Source: Singapore Junior Math Olympiad 2015 2nd Round p3 SMO

Tags: combinatorics, algebra, Sequence



There are $30$ children, $a_1,a_2,...,a_{30}$ seated clockwise in a circle on the floor. The teacher walks behind the children in the clockwise direction with a box of $1000$ candies. She drops a candy behind the first child $a_1$. She then skips one child and drops a candy behind the third child, $a_3$. Now she skips two children and drops a candy behind the next child, $a_6$. She continues this way, at each stage skipping one child more than at the preceding stage before dropping a candy behind the next child. How many children will never receive a candy? Justify your answer.