Brain Teasers
Popcorn Problems
When the circus's popcorn vendor went on vacation, Charlie the Chimp saw it as the perfect opportunity to start a new act, so he volunteered to man the stand. Everything was going great until the very end of the day, when a set of twins showed up. There was just 1 large box of popcorn left to sell, and it was too late to pop another batch, so the twins asked Charlie if he could split the popcorn into two equal portions.Charlie knew that the large box held exactly 12 cups of popcorn. He also had 2 empty boxes on hand: a medium box that held exactly 8 cups and a small box that held exactly 5 cups. But none of the boxes had any measurement markings on them. There must be a way to divide the 12 cups of popcorn so that the two boxes contain exactly 6 cups each, thought the chimp.
How did he give out an equal amount of popcorn to the twins?
How did he give out an equal amount of popcorn to the twins?
Answer
Fill the 8-cup box from the 12-cup box, leaving 4 cups. Fill the 5-cup box from the 8-cup box, leaving 3 cups. Empty the 5-cup box into the 12-cup box. Now there are 9 cups in the 12-cup box and 3 cups in the 8-cup box. Pour the 3 cups into the 5-cup box. Fill the 8-cup box from the 12-cup box, leaving 1 cup in the 12-cup box. Fill the 5-cup box (it already has 3 cups in it) from the 8-cup box, leaving 6 cups in the 8-cup box. Finally, empty the 5-cup box into the 12-cup box. This results in 6 cups in the 12-cup box, 6 cups in the 8-cup box, and nothing in the 5-cup box.Hide Answer Show Answer
What Next?
View a Similar Brain Teaser...
If you become a registered user you can vote on this brain teaser, keep track of which ones you have seen, and even make your own.
Solve a Puzzle
Comments
Great teaser! My brain hurts though...
personally, I would have just given them both 5 cups and saved the rest for the chimp.
Jul 27, 2006
Thats stupid, i would just get 2 of the 8-cup and put six cups each
Great puzzle! Simple rules, not so simple solution.
Aug 24, 2006
i would just give them 5 each by pouring popcorn in to the 5-cup box then that in to the 8-cup box and then pour more in to the 5-cup box.
Aug 26, 2006
Ok ppl 1 u dont have a way to measure cups and 2d u have just 3 packages, small med and big. Good teaser yeah the general method to solve these kind of problems is to pour from bag to bag till you find the solution
How about this: Pour popcorn into the 8 cup box until the 12 cup one is half full. You can tell when it is half full when you can tip it so the popcorn fills up from the top edge to the opposite bottom edge. It wouldn't be as precise, but it would be faster.
this was fun made me think alot!!!
Oct 30, 2006
A) Fill medium cup, and use it to fill small cup, and put the remaining (3) cups into large cup. B) Empty small cup and repeat A. C) Put remaining popcorn into medium cup. Done!
Oct 30, 2006
hmm this is just a repeat but it mite sound clearer (i think this is simpler than the answer)
Step A) Fill med. box and use it to fill small box which leaves 3 cups worth, that you pour into the large box. Step B) If you empty the small box and do (A) again, there will be 2x3=6 cups in the large box; then you can scoop the rest into the medium cup, right?
of course this assumes you can use the popcorn machine as a repository
Step A) Fill med. box and use it to fill small box which leaves 3 cups worth, that you pour into the large box. Step B) If you empty the small box and do (A) again, there will be 2x3=6 cups in the large box; then you can scoop the rest into the medium cup, right?
of course this assumes you can use the popcorn machine as a repository
To post a comment, please create an account and sign in.
Follow Braingle!