Brain Teasers
Locked in a Tower
A captive queen and her son and daughter were locked in the top room of a very high tower. Outside their window was a pulley with a rope around it, and a basket fastened to each end of the rope. Both baskets weighed the same. One basket is at the top of the tower, the other basket is on the ground. They managed to escape the tower using the pulley and baskets and a weight that they found in the room. It's too dangerous for any of them to come down if they weigh more than 15lbs more than the contents of the other basket, because they would do so too quickly. The one basket coming down would naturally of course draw the other up. The queen weighed 195 lbs. daughter 105, son 90, and the weight 75 lbs. How did they all escape safely?
Answer
This is one method of everyone getting out of the tower.1) They send the weight down and the empty basket comes up.
2) The son goes down and the weight comes up.
3) They take the weight out; the daughter goes down; the son up.
4) The son gets out; the weight goes down and the empty basket comes up.
5) The daughter puts the weight in the basket and climbs in. The queen goes down while the daughter and weight come up. The daughter gets out.
6) The weight goes down and the empty basket comes up.
7) Son goes down; weight comes up.
8) Daughter removes weight, and goes down while the son comes up.
9) Son sends down weight and the empty basket comes up.
10) The son goes down and the weight comes up.
11) Son gets out and the weight falls to the ground.
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