A French foreign legion general must make a trip across the deserts of Tunis to a remote outpost. He must travel on foot from the nearest town, and the distance is such that it will take a person six days to cover it.
The problem is that a person on foot can only carry enough water and provisions to last him four days. The general can take with him any number of assistants to help him carry the supplies, but they must be fed as well, and cannot be left stranded in the desert.
How will the general make it across, and how many assistants will he need to help him? (Find the smallest number.)
(In reply to
by paul kim)
if time is not of the essence here, the general can do it himself in 18 days (or less). He starts out by carrying 4 rations as far as he can in one day, leaves a stockpile of 2 days rations and returns to base. Repeat this procedure 4 times, leaving a stockpile of 8 rations one days travel from town, where the general currently is. He takes two rations and heads out to the desert. At his stockpile location, he picks up four rations and proceeds in the same fasion twice, leaving his stockpile of 4 rations 2 miles into the desert, with himself and one ration one mile into the desert. So from here he just goes across the desert, picking up his rations along the way. There may be a faster way to do it without any assistants...
no assistants
