Brain Teasers
The Gold Chain
A rich man left his home, with only a gold chain with 123 links. He decides to stay at an inn. The owner of the inn wants one link for the first week, two links for the second week, three links for the third week, etc. What is the minimum amount of cuts?
Answer
The minimum number of cuts needed to be made is 4. If the links are numbered from 1 to 123, then the cuts would be made on the following links:6, 17, 38, and 79.
This would result in four 1-link pieces, one 5 link piece, one 10-link piece, one 20-link piece, one 40-link piece, and one 44 piece.
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Comments
Well done Misse. I see I have a serious contender for top position. lol
Yes you do, but you're winning!
This is not a comment but rather a request to have the deatail of the solution since I've found it difficult and i can't figure out why you have 6,17,38, and 79 as the 4 links..
really makes you think, i love it!
Good teaser. I had it down to 6 cuts.
very good, took me awhile to figure it out.
Very nice!
HMMM.. to those who are wondering:
Innkeeper Me (1,1,1,1,5,10,20 etc)
1 (1,1,1,5,10,20 etc) he has 1
1,1,1 (1,1,5,10,20 etc) he has 1+2
1,5, (1,1,1,10,20 etc) he has 1+2+3
10 (1,1,1,1,5,20 etc) he has 1+2+3+4
As has been pointed out by comments on similar teasers, this requires the innkeeper to not only keep the inn but keep all the links so he can give them in change. Don't you think the innkeeper might want to spend the gold!
Innkeeper Me (1,1,1,1,5,10,20 etc)
1 (1,1,1,5,10,20 etc) he has 1
1,1,1 (1,1,5,10,20 etc) he has 1+2
1,5, (1,1,1,10,20 etc) he has 1+2+3
10 (1,1,1,1,5,20 etc) he has 1+2+3+4
As has been pointed out by comments on similar teasers, this requires the innkeeper to not only keep the inn but keep all the links so he can give them in change. Don't you think the innkeeper might want to spend the gold!
Why doesn't the rich man decide how long he wants to stay at the inn, then pay in advance?
He'd only have to cut the chain once.
But be sure to get a receipt!
He'd only have to cut the chain once.
But be sure to get a receipt!
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