perplexus.info :: General : Another Pack of Prudent Pirates

Another Pack of Prudent Pirates (Posted on 2004-04-01)

The five pirates have found another 500 gold coins and wonder how to split them up. This time they say that unless a majority (more than 1/2) say yes to a plan, the one that proposed that plan will get killed and they will move on to the next plan. The order of plan making starts with 5, then 4, 3, 2, 1.

The pirates will try above all else to stay alive, even if it means accepting no coins. If they will stay alive either way, they would like the most coins possible. Also, the pirates have been on board the ship for a while and are getting tired with each other, so if faced with the decision to reject a plan or keep it, they will reject it if nothing else matters more to them.

What should Pirate 5's offer be?

Submitted by Gamer

Rating: 3.8333 (6 votes)

Solution: (Hide)

nikki gave a solution here that matches mine.

This problem brings up how important your co-workers are. If they would have stuck together, the boss (Pirate 5, since he gets first say in everything) would have gotten less money.

A chart of the outcome shows the planning on each stage. X represents the coins left over for pirate 1 in the first two scenarios and for the plan-creator in the other scenarios. Note that the second plan will fail if proposed, so 1 coin doesn't need to be added there. Also note that the 1-coin pirate chosen is the one closest to become plan-creator in this example. Choosing a different 1-coin pirate to get the extra coin wouldn't affect the results, but it would make the results harder to understand.
X X 0 0 0 X 1 1 0 X 0 2 1 0 X 1 0 2 1 0 X 0 1 0 2 1 0 X 1 0 1 0 2 1 0 X 0 1 0 1 0 2 1 0 X 1 0 1 0 1 0 2 1 0 X
As the pattern is extended to 10 pirates, the pattern that is established is evident. Each time a 1-coin pirate needs to be given an extra coin to get that pirate's vote.

Comments: ( You must be logged in to post comments.)

Subject	Author	Date
Puzzle Thoughts	K Sengupta	2024-02-29 00:15:41
re(2): No Subject	hostinark	2024-02-28 11:40:34
No Subject	hostinark	2024-02-28 11:40:00
re: No Subject	Patel	2023-12-20 16:06:27
No Subject	Glenn Howard	2023-10-07 05:31:59
100 per.	Brittany	2004-04-12 02:55:20
Internet Piracy	Penny	2004-04-08 08:26:59
re(3): Dividing the pieces of eight - I agree with nikki	Robert Mendez	2004-04-02 00:08:49
re(2): Dividing the pieces of eight - I agree with nikki	Mea	2004-04-01 21:51:35
re(2): Dividing the pieces of eight	Courtney	2004-04-01 18:52:19
re: Dividing the pieces of eight	nikki	2004-04-01 16:22:30
Dividing the pieces of eight	Brian Smith	2004-04-01 14:22:33

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