perplexus.info :: Weights and Scales : Trickier Pearls

Trickier Pearls (Posted on 2002-10-08)

Your boss liked how you solved the Tricky Pearls problem and has now given you a new one.

You have 5 bags of pearls. You are told that each bag contains either all genuine pearls, or all fake pearls. Real pearls weigh 10 grams and fake pearls weigh 9 grams.

Armed with a very precise scale, how can you figure out which bags contains the fake pearls with the fewest number of weighings?

See The Solution Submitted by Happy

Rating: 2.5000 (4 votes)

Comments: ( Back to comment list | You must be logged in to post comments.)

Re: solution

| Comment 4 of 6 |

The problem does not state that only one bag is fake therefore, we need to add that if the weight comes to 303 grams i.e. 7 grams light that must mean bags 1,2,and 3 are fake (1+2+4=7) or any other odd combination i.e. 18 means bags 5 and 2 are fake etc. etc. alll possible combinations can be solved

Posted by john on 2003-04-03 16:22:31

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