You have five coins, apparently alike, but actually of different weights. You also have a two arm scale.

Can you manage to sort the coins in ascending order, using the scale only seven times?

Bonus question: can it be done in fewer weighings?

(In reply to Full solution by e.g.)

IF in step one you have coins of 3 and 4 oz, AND
IF in step two you have coins of 1 and 2 oz, THEN
Step three fails to sort a=3, b=2, d=4 correctly.

This puzzle is much tougher than it appears on the surface...

Posted by Erik on 2004-06-02 13:37:01