Four friends are gathered at a pub. They have in front of them two 8-pint trankards full of beer, and an empty 3-pint mug.

Since they are still sober, they quickly calculate that they have 16 pints for the four of them, which comes out to an even 4 pints per person.

Can they divide the beer equally with the containers they have available?

So this solution assumes that you have clear containers and are sober enough to fill two containers to the same level.

We'll label the tankards A & B and the mug M. First use the mug to give everyone 3 pints as follows:

A -> M : drink
B -> M : drink
A -> M : drink
B -> M : drink

At this point, everyone has had 3 pints and A & B each have two pints remaining.

- Pour A into M and top off with the beer from B. M now contains 3 pints and B contains 1.

- Fill A to the same level as B. drink.

- Take the remaining two pints in M, and fill both A & B to the same level. drink.

Stagger home and question the wisdom of a pub with such strange, and scarce glassware.

-M

Posted by Matt on 2002-06-12 12:56:27