Puzzle: You have got someone working for you for five days and a gold bar to pay him. You must give them a piece of gold at the end of every day. What are the fewest number of cuts to the bar of gold that will allow you to pay him 1/5th each day?
Answer: 2 cuts.
Solution:
Explanation 1:
After two cut there are three pieces of [1 unit and two 2 units] or [two 1 units and one 3 unit]. Now perform the following transactions.
[1 unit and two 2 units]
| Days | Gold Bars(Vendor) | Gold Bars(Worker) | Comments |
|---|
| Day 0 | [1, 2, 2] | [] | Initially Worker have 0 Gold Bars unit. |
| Day 1 | [2, 2] | [1] | Pay the worker Gold Bar with 1 unit. |
| Day 2 | [1, 2] | [2] | Pay the worker Gold with 2 units and take back the gold bar with 1 unit. |
| Day 3 | [2] | [1, 2] | Pay the worker Gold Bar with 1 unit. |
| Day 4 | [1] | [2, 2] | Pay the worker Gold with 2 units and take back the gold bar with 1 unit. |
| Day 5 | [] | [1, 2, 2] | Pay the worker with only left Gold Bar with 1 unit. |
[two 1 units and one 3 unit]
| Days | Gold Bars(Vendor) | Gold Bars(Worker) | Comments |
|---|
| Day 0 | [1, 1, 3] | [] | Initially Worker have 0 Gold Bars unit. |
| Day 1 | [1, 3] | [1] | Pay the worker Gold Bar with 1 unit. |
| Day 2 | [3] | [1,1] | Pay the worker Gold with other 1 units. |
| Day 3 | [1,1] | [3] | Pay the worker Gold Bar with 3 unit and take back all the gold bar with 1 unit. |
| Day 4 | [1] | [1, 3] | Pay the worker Gold with 1 unit. |
| Day 5 | [] | [1, 1, 3] | Pay the worker with only left Gold Bar with 1 unit. |
Similar Puzzle: Pay an employee using a 7 units gold rod?
This article is contributed by Vikash Kumar. Please write comments if you find anything incorrect, or you want to share more information about the topic discussed above