Three missionaries and three cannibals are on one side of the river, wanting to get across.
Unfortunately, the only boat available can hold a maximum of two people. The missionaries, wanting to stay safe, can never be on a side with more cannibals than missionaries (even for a moment!). The boat cannot travel under its own power, so there must be at least one person on board for it to cross.
How can the missionaries get safely across?
Key: west-(<< or >>)boat with direction-east
(-=beach/shoreline)
start mmmccc--
mmcc->mc>- m drops off c
mmcc-<m<-c then returns to pick up new c
mmc->mc>c c picked up/to east side
mmc-<m<-cc then returns to pick up an m
mc->mm>-cc
mc-<mc<-mc dorps off m/picks up c
cc->mm>-mc m^2 go east
cc-<m<-mmc
c->mc>-mmc
c-<m<-mmcc
->mc>-mmcc
--mmmccc
This solution only works assuming that the shore (or side) and the boat(at said shore) are considered as seperate locations. Also, shore to boat transfers are instantaneous.
Solution(with several assumptions)
