You have 12 coins. They are completely identical except six of them weigh 24g and the other six weigh 25g. You have only a balance scale to sort them out. What is the minimum number of weighings which guarantees all the coins to be sorted?

(In reply to An alternative method by Penny)

My last revision of "An alternative method" gives a method with a minimum of 5 balances, and a maximum of 12.

Posted by Penny on 2004-01-18 23:22:54