perplexus.info :: Logic : The general's journey

The general's journey (Posted on 2002-05-29)

A French foreign legion general must make a trip across the deserts of Tunis to a remote outpost. He must travel on foot from the nearest town, and the distance is such that it will take a person six days to cover it.

The problem is that a person on foot can only carry enough water and provisions to last him four days. The general can take with him any number of assistants to help him carry the supplies, but they must be fed as well, and cannot be left stranded in the desert.

How will the general make it across, and how many assistants will he need to help him? (Find the smallest number.)

Submitted by levik

Rating: 4.4000 (10 votes)

Solution: (Hide)

The general starts out from the town with two assistants.
After one day of marching, one assistant will turn back to the town, leaving the general and the remaining assistant a total of 8 days worth of supplies.
At the end of the second day, six rations will be left. At this point, the second assistant turns back and takes two of the rations with him - enough to make it to town. The general, now four days away from his destination has four rations left, so he will make it.

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

Subject	Author	Date
Explanation to Puzzle Answer	K Sengupta	2022-09-09 22:11:55
Puzzle Answer	K Sengupta	2022-09-06 22:49:54
solution	salil	2006-02-25 12:35:38
Lowly Soldier	Bruce Brantley	2004-10-24 22:31:00
re: Solution	vije	2004-07-02 14:44:10
easy way out	vije	2004-07-02 14:42:56
Solution	Andrwe Mitchell	2003-07-26 09:36:55
solution i think	Jonathan Waltz	2003-04-01 05:40:55
assistants/days	jason lang	2002-12-25 20:50:06
re: no assistants	TomM	2002-11-15 12:03:43
no assistants	Cory Taylor	2002-11-15 09:51:29
No Subject	paul kim	2002-09-01 03:52:45
re: re: More efficient answer	thebandchick	2002-06-08 13:16:36
re: More efficient answer	TomM	2002-05-30 15:52:20
More efficient answer	Zach Bolinger	2002-05-30 14:05:27
Walkabout	TomM	2002-05-30 11:49:47

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