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Hey guys, I have a couple interesting puzzles for you. Use your brain and try to solve them. The first one is the easier of the two. When you ultimately accept defeat, I'll post the solution. Post back if I have not made the puzzles clear for further explanation with examples.
The first one goes like this:
1. There are three preachers and three cannibals on a river bank. They want to cross the river and there is a boat that has a capacity to carry two people at a time. The gist is that, if the number of cannibals is greater then the number of preachers, the cannibals will eat away the preacher. Suggest a way in which all can safely cross the river. Moreover someone needs to row the boat back to the shore, it will not come back by itself for the second trip, so keep that in mind.
The second one goes like this:
2. There are 23 prisoners and a warden. There is an empty room that has two switches that can be turned ON or OFF and do nothing other than that. The warden says that each day he will pick a random prisoner who will go to the room and turn one of the switches ON if it is OFF, or will turn it OFF if it is ON. The warden suggests that if they are able to tell at the right moment: "Now all the prisoners have been to the room", he will free them all, but if they tell them this when everybody has not been to the room then he will hand them over to the crocodiles. They have been allowed to meet once before this process begins to plan their course of action and decide how they will estimate when all prisoners have been to the room. After this meeting they will be kept in seperate cells and will not be allowed to talk to each other. Each day, a random prisoner would go to the room and turn the switches On or OFF, as mentioned earlier. Moreover, the warden can pick the same person simultaneously but not more than 3 times.
Suggest a plan using the switches to free the prisoners.
I hope you tear your hair out trying to solve these. HEHE
The first one goes like this:
1. There are three preachers and three cannibals on a river bank. They want to cross the river and there is a boat that has a capacity to carry two people at a time. The gist is that, if the number of cannibals is greater then the number of preachers, the cannibals will eat away the preacher. Suggest a way in which all can safely cross the river. Moreover someone needs to row the boat back to the shore, it will not come back by itself for the second trip, so keep that in mind.
The second one goes like this:
2. There are 23 prisoners and a warden. There is an empty room that has two switches that can be turned ON or OFF and do nothing other than that. The warden says that each day he will pick a random prisoner who will go to the room and turn one of the switches ON if it is OFF, or will turn it OFF if it is ON. The warden suggests that if they are able to tell at the right moment: "Now all the prisoners have been to the room", he will free them all, but if they tell them this when everybody has not been to the room then he will hand them over to the crocodiles. They have been allowed to meet once before this process begins to plan their course of action and decide how they will estimate when all prisoners have been to the room. After this meeting they will be kept in seperate cells and will not be allowed to talk to each other. Each day, a random prisoner would go to the room and turn the switches On or OFF, as mentioned earlier. Moreover, the warden can pick the same person simultaneously but not more than 3 times.
Suggest a plan using the switches to free the prisoners.
I hope you tear your hair out trying to solve these. HEHE
