A farmer needs 8 gallons of water. He has only three unmarked buckets, two 6 gallon and one 11 gallon bucket.

How can he collect 8 gallons of water using three unmarked buckets? Provide solution with minimal water wastage.

(In reply to re(2): prove me wrong!! by fwaff)

I guess we did 'prove him/her wrong!!'.

By the way, here's my solution.

Fill both 6's and pour into the 11. There'll be 1 left in one of the 6's.
Empty the eleven into the six and discard the remaining 5. Pour 6 back into eleven. Fill the empty 6 and pour into 11. Add remaining 1 to other 1.
Fill empty six with water from 11, and get rid of remaining 5. Put the six and two into the 11, and then the farmer has 8 gallons. This method wastes 10 gallons, but I don't think there's a better way.

Posted by Lewis on 2003-07-10 09:39:13