Henry Ernest Dudeney/Modern Puzzles/183 - At the Brook/General Solution
Modern Puzzles by Henry Ernest Dudeney: $183$
- At the Brook
- A man goes to the brook with two measures of $15$ pints and $16$ pints.
- How is he to measure exactly $8$ pints of water, in the fewest possible transactions?
- Filling or emptying a vessel or pouring any quantity from one vessel to another counts as a transaction.
General Solution
Dudeney starts by demonstrating that any integer quantity from $1$ to $16$ pints can be measured using these two containers.
Perform the transactions according to the one of the following two procedures:
- $\begin {array} {r|c|c|c} & \text {$15$-pint} & \text {$16$-pint} \\ \hline & 0 & 0 \\ * & 0 & 16 \\ * & 15 & 1 \\ & 0 & 1 \\ & 1 & 0 \\ & 1 & 16 \\ * & 15 & 2 \\ & 0 & 2 \\ & 2 & 0 \\ & 2 & 16 \\ * & 15 & 3 \\ & 0 & 3 \\ & 3 & 0 \\ & 3 & 16 \\ * & 15 & 4 \\ & 0 & 4 \\ & 4 & 0 \\ & 4 & 16 \\ * & 15 & 5 \\ & 0 & 5 \\ & 5 & 0 \\ & 5 & 16 \\ * & 15 & 6 \\ & 0 & 6 \\ & 6 & 0 \\ & 6 & 16 \\ * & 15 & 7 \\ & 0 & 7 \\ & 7 & 0 \\ \end {array} \qquad \begin {array} {r|c|c|c} & \text {$15$-pint} & \text {$16$-pint} \\ \hline & 0 & 0 \\ * & 15 & 0 \\ & 0 & 15 \\ & 15 & 15 \\ * & 14 & 16 \\ & 14 & 0 \\ & 0 & 14 \\ & 15 & 14 \\ * & 13 & 16 \\ & 13 & 0 \\ & 0 & 13 \\ & 15 & 13 \\ * & 12 & 16 \\ & 12 & 0 \\ & 0 & 12 \\ & 15 & 12 \\ * & 11 & 16 \\ & 11 & 0 \\ & 0 & 11 \\ & 15 & 11 \\ * & 10 & 16 \\ & 10 & 0 \\ & 0 & 10 \\ & 15 & 10 \\ * & 9 & 16 \\ & 9 & 0 \\ & 0 & 9 \\ & 15 & 9 \\ * & 8 & 16 \\ \end {array}$
In the first column, the asterisks mark where the quantities from $1$ pint to $8$ pints have been measured, and a continuance of the pattern for another few transactions.
In the second column, the asterisks mark where the quantities from $15$ pints down to $8$ pints have been measured.
It is seen that fewer transactions are needed to get to $8$ by filling the $15$-pint container first, while to get to $7$ it is quicker to start by filling the $16$-pint container.
Historical Note
Martin Gardner reports on his Mathematical Games article in the September $1963$ issue of Scientific American, where he describes a technique for solving liquid pouring problems using isometric paper.
The subject is also discussed in 1965: T.H. O'Beirne: Puzzles and Paradoxes.
Sources
- 1926: Henry Ernest Dudeney: Modern Puzzles ... (previous) ... (next): Solutions: $183$. -- At the Brook
- 1968: Henry Ernest Dudeney: 536 Puzzles & Curious Problems ... (previous) ... (next): Answers: $403$. At the Brook