Brain Teasers
Sir Mad and The Dragon
During the Medieval period of Madadian history the land was terrorised with strange creatures, like the legendary Georgian Dragon that roamed the hills of the lower Madadian Forest.
Young Sir Mad Ade, knight of the periodic table, was dispatched by the King to dispense with the infamous Dragon.
The task was not as straight forward as in may seem, as the Georgian Dragon had three heads and three tails. If this was not bad enough there was even more of a problem, the dragon had certain regenerative powers, so if one head is chopped off, a new head grows, also if Sir Mad Ade is to chop off one tail, two new tails grow.
If Sir Mad hacks off two tails, one new head grows. But if two heads are chopped off, nothing grows.
Young Sir Mad has with him a magical sword, blessed by the lady of the boating lake. The sword is capable of removing with a single blow either one head or two heads, or one tail or two tails, but never a combination of a head or a tail in one blow.
What is the smallest number of strokes required by Sir Mad Ade to chop off all heads and tails of the dragon, thus killing it?
Young Sir Mad Ade, knight of the periodic table, was dispatched by the King to dispense with the infamous Dragon.
The task was not as straight forward as in may seem, as the Georgian Dragon had three heads and three tails. If this was not bad enough there was even more of a problem, the dragon had certain regenerative powers, so if one head is chopped off, a new head grows, also if Sir Mad Ade is to chop off one tail, two new tails grow.
If Sir Mad hacks off two tails, one new head grows. But if two heads are chopped off, nothing grows.
Young Sir Mad has with him a magical sword, blessed by the lady of the boating lake. The sword is capable of removing with a single blow either one head or two heads, or one tail or two tails, but never a combination of a head or a tail in one blow.
What is the smallest number of strokes required by Sir Mad Ade to chop off all heads and tails of the dragon, thus killing it?
Answer
Sir Mad Ade managed it in nine strokes.The best way to achieve this is that all of the tails must be converted to heads in such a way that the dragon is left with an even number of heads.
The way Sir Mad did this in the smallest number of strokes was to first convert the three tails to six tails by using three one-tail strokes, then converting the six tails to three heads via three two-tail strokes. Finally, the now six-headed dragon can be killed with three two-head strokes.
Thus, total of nine strokes to chop off all heads and tails of the dragon.
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