A poor
potter sells a pot in the market and gets his price of 60 rs in 12 coins of 5
rs each. The buyer then throws him an extra challenge – one of these coins is
fake. The only thing different about the fake coin is that it weighs different
from all the other coins (can be lighter or heavier).
Using ONLY a pair of balanced
scales and the 12 coins, if the potter can find the fake coin in under 5
weighs, the buyer will reward him with another 12 coins amounting to 60 rs.
Else, he must live with the fake coin. You are passing by and you want to help.
Can you do it?
1 comments:
This is a classic logic puzzle that we have simplified for you. Let’s number the coins from 1 to 12.
Weigh 1: 1234 Vs 5678.
Either they will balance or not balance.
Scenario 1: They balance. This means that the fake coin is among 9,10,11,12.
Weigh 1.2: 1,2 Vs 9,10
If they balance: If they don’t balance:
Weigh 1.3: 1 Vs 11 1 Vs 9
If they balance, the fake coin is 12, else 11. / 10 else 9
Scenario 2: One side is heavier than the other. Now, we need to find the fake set. So, we will have to do one more weigh with 9,10,11,12 to find out which set has the fake coin.
Weigh 2.1: 1234 Vs 9,10,11,12
Now, we know one of the two sets is fake. For our example, let’s say it is 1234. (The logical steps wont change irrespective of which set is fake.)
From here, repeat the steps of weigh 1.2 and 1.3 to arrive at the fake coin, using 9,10,11,12 as the standard set.
This way, we know which is the fake set.
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