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Re: Interesting trivia - anybody has a different answer than I keep getting - zero
Posted:
Nov 27, 2012 6:56 PM
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That is an excellent analysis. I will try it with some more
iterations on that solution and see whether I can eek out some more
GB, but that is one fine analysis that gets me thinking on those
lines. appreciated.
On Tue, 27 Nov 2012 21:35:34 -0000, "Mike Terry"
<news.dead.person.stones@darjeeling.plus.com> wrote:
>"Stone Bacchus" <x@x.com> wrote in message
>news:03q9b8d8de65oj4cninvsj3q42v3ira9hf@4ax.com...
>> My daughter and I were solving a math trivia and I could not come up
>> with any answer other than zero. Would be interesting to see if
>> somebody has a different opinion. The problem follows:
>>
>> You are at the start of a 1000 mile road with 3000 gummybears and a
>> donkey. At the end of the road is a supermarket. You want to find
>> the greatest number of gummy bears you can sell. Unfortunately, your
>> donkey has a disease and can only carry 1000 gummybears at 1 time.
>> Also, the donkey must eat 1 gummybear per mile.
>>
>> - You can drop off gummybears anywhere on the road
>> - You can't carry gummybears while walking
>> - No loopholes
>>
>> Again, this was a math trivia question and I could not ask anybody for
>> clarification about what some the caveats meant or what the "no
>> loopholes" meant, therefore I got zero.
>>
>> (If I were to guess about the "no loopholes", I would think they meant
>> no "carrying the donkey" like I suggested to my daughter :) )
>>
>> Thanks for your time.
>>
>> s
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>Here is my first thought, which is based on dividing the 1000 mile journey
>into stretches that require different numbers of trips to transport the
>entire 3000 gummybears.
>
>With the donkey only able to carry 1/3 of the total, there would be at least
>5 trips required for the first stretch, and assuming we arrange this to get
>down to 2000 gummmybears, the next stretch would require only 3 trips,
>getting down to 1000 gummybears, and the final stretch is just one journey
>the remainder of the distance to the market. So the max distance for the
>first stretch would be 1000/5 = 200 miles, the second stretch would be
>1000/3 = 333 1/3 miles, and the the remainder for the last stretch.
>
>So, putting this together into a plan:
>
>Starting from Base1...
>1. Take 1000 gummybears 200 miles [to "Base2"]
>2. Drop off 600 gummybears
>3. Travel back to Base1
>4. Take 1000 gummybears 200 miles [to Base2]
>5. Drop off 600 gummybears [Base2 now has 1200 gb]
>6. Travel back to Base1
>7. Take 1000 gummybears 200 miles [to Base2]
>8. Load up 200 more gummybears [Base2 now has 1000 gb]
>9. Travel 333 1/3 miles [to "Base3"]
>10. Drop off 333 1/3 gummybears [Base3 now has 333 1/3gb]
>11. Travel back to Base2
>12. Load up 1000 gummybears [Base2 now empty]
>13. Travel 333 1/3 miles to Base3
>14. Load up 333 1/3 gummybears [Base3 now empty]
>15. Travel remaining distance to market.
>
>The remaining distance to market is 466 2/3 miles, so you'll arrive with 533
>1/3 gummybears to sell. (Maybe a bit less if we can't divide up
>gummybears!)
>
>I don't know if this is best, as I haven't tried any alternatives. I have
>tried to minimise total travel distance, but maybe I've not done this in the
>best way - anyway, it's a starting point to compare with what others come up
>with...
>
>
>Regards,
>Mike.
>
>
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