- #1
airbusman
- 11
- 0
In the textbook used for my problem solving and proofs course, one of the questions asks me to develop a geometric or algebraic representation of various questions. Here is one that I'm having trouble with:
"Three cannibals and three missionaries are together on one side of the river. They wish to cross the river, and they have a boat that can carry two people. Describe a procedure for transporting all six people across the river in such a way that there are never more cannibals than missionaries on anyone side at a given time."
I tried really hard, and all I could come up with was this (don't laugh):
1) let "a" be the number of missionaries on side 1
2) "b" cannibals
3) "c" missionaries side 2
4) "d" cannibals
a > b and c > d at all times.
What am I doing wrong?
"Three cannibals and three missionaries are together on one side of the river. They wish to cross the river, and they have a boat that can carry two people. Describe a procedure for transporting all six people across the river in such a way that there are never more cannibals than missionaries on anyone side at a given time."
I tried really hard, and all I could come up with was this (don't laugh):
1) let "a" be the number of missionaries on side 1
2) "b" cannibals
3) "c" missionaries side 2
4) "d" cannibals
a > b and c > d at all times.
What am I doing wrong?