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Pill Puzzler (Posted on 2004-04-20) Difficulty: 2 of 5
You've been placed on a course of expensive medication in which you are to take one tablet of medicine A and one tablet of medicine B daily.

You must be careful that you take just one of each because taking more of either can have serious side effects. Taking an A without taking a B, or vice versa, can also be very serious, because they must be taken together in order to be effective. In summary, you must take exactly one of the A pills and one of the B pills at one time.

Therefore, you open up the A bottle, and you tap one A pill into your hand. You put that bottle aside and you open the B bottle. You do the same, but by mistake, two Bs fall into your hand with the A pill.

Now, here's the problem. You weren't watching your hand as the pills fell into it, so you can't tell the A pill apart from the two B pills. The pills look identical. They are the same size, same weight, same color, same everything, and they are not marked differently in any way. What are you going to do? You cannot tell which pill is which, and you cannot afford to throw them away and start over again.

How do you get your daily dose of exactly one A and exactly one B without wasting any of the pills?

  Submitted by Popstar Dave    
Rating: 2.6667 (15 votes)
Solution: (Hide)
CUT EACH OF THE THREE PILLS IN HALF, AND CAREFULLY SEPARATE THEM INTO TWO PILES, WITH HALF OF EACH PILL IN EACH PILE.

You do not know which pill is which, but you are 100% sure that each of the two piles now contains two halves of pill B and half of pill A.

Now go back into the pill A box, take out a pill, cut it in half, and add one half to each stack. Now you have two stacks, each one containing two halves of pill A and two halves of pill B.

Take one stack of pills today, and save the second stack for tomorrow. And the problem is solved."

Comments: ( You must be logged in to post comments.)
  Subject Author Date
Puzzle SolutionK Sengupta2023-03-07 00:05:48
Some ThoughtsDeadly Advice?Joshua2011-09-02 20:29:11
siimple solution... if i read the problem right...Brandon2005-07-12 18:40:37
re(2): Pill puzzler: Solution, I think?Lisa2004-04-27 18:10:28
No SubjectBilly Bob2004-04-23 18:18:29
Pill puzzler solutionida2004-04-22 14:58:20
pill puzzeljohn turner2004-04-22 12:27:30
re: Pill puzzler: Solution, I think?Eddie2004-04-22 10:47:21
Solutionjust my opinion..?Damien2004-04-22 04:54:39
Maybe...simone2004-04-21 18:24:59
Some Thoughtsre(2): No Subject to be improvedAdy TZIDON2004-04-21 14:52:06
re: No SubjectBrian Wainscott2004-04-21 14:12:58
i think i got itkibibi2004-04-21 03:44:03
Like skateboarding....john2004-04-20 21:43:07
No SubjectGamer2004-04-20 18:57:16
re(3): Two, no One other method, no count countLisa2004-04-20 18:21:45
re(2): Two, no One other method, no count countLarry2004-04-20 17:15:11
Solutionre: Two other methods, no chop chop >>BACK TO chop chopAdy TZIDON2004-04-20 17:09:39
re: Two other methods, no chop chopLisa2004-04-20 16:53:26
Pill puzzler: Solution, I think?Lisa2004-04-20 16:45:46
SolutionTwo other methods, no chop chopLarry2004-04-20 16:36:36
Solutionre(3): Stay well and betterAdy TZIDON2004-04-20 14:32:34
re(2): Stay wellCharlie2004-04-20 13:43:02
re: SolutionScott2004-04-20 13:33:39
re: Stay wellScott2004-04-20 13:30:24
SolutionSolutionsassy2004-04-20 12:45:51
SolutionStay wellAdy TZIDON2004-04-20 11:29:06
SolutionMix it up!e.g.2004-04-20 10:45:59
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