Rub a dub dub, 3 men in a tub (actually a boat).

Let’s get right down to the problem… You have 3 people who are on an island. We’ll call them Mark, Ryan, and Evan. Unfortunately, they have to leave. Maybe they’ve run out of food, maybe the island is burning down, or maybe they just need a change of scenery. We don’t know why, and it doesn’t matter. The point is, they need to travel to another island which is miles and miles away. The good news is that they have a boat. Their boat can hold up to 200 pounds in weight. This creates a problem though because:

  • Mark is 100 pounds
  • Ryan is 100 pounds
  • Evan is 200 pounds

Obviously, they cannot go all at once, or the boat will sink. This means the boat’s going to have to make more than 1 trip. So the question is… how do they all get to the other island?

Scroll down for the answer.


Tip: Draw it out on a piece of paper.

 



Tip: The boat will make a total of 5 trips (3 of them to the new island, and 2 of them back to the old one)

 



Answer:
Mark and Ryan take the boat to the new island. Mark drops off Ryan, and then Mark takes the boat back to the old island. Mark gets off at the old island, while Evan takes the boat to the new island. Evan gets off at the new island. Ryan gets back on and goes to the old island, picks up Mark, and then Ryan and Mark travel to the new island.

2 Comments | Leave a Comment

  1. snow on December 5, 2008 - click here to reply
    you are brilliant =D
  2. Paul on February 1, 2022 - click here to reply
    They should have just booked a flight on Expedia !

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