A wine merchant has three sons. When he dies, he leaves them seven barrels that are full of wine, seven that are half-full, and seven that are empty. His will requires that each son receive the same number of full, half-full, and empty barrels. Can this be done?
|
SelectClick for Answer |
Yes. Combine four of the half-full barrels to make two full ones. Now each son can receive three full, one half-full, and three empty barrels.
06/28/2017 A number of readers pointed out a simpler solution: Just pour half of a full barrel into an empty barrel! I should have seen this. The puzzle appears in James F. Fixx’s More Games for the Superintelligent; he doesn’t give the original source.
|
