An interesting problem from around 775 A.D. involves a wolf, a goat, a bag of ca

Question

An interesting problem from around 775 A.D. involves a wolf, a goat, a bag of cabbage and a ferryman. From an initial position on the left bank of a river, the ferryman is able to transport the wolf, the goat and the cabbage to the right bank. The difficulty is that the ferryman can only transport himself and one other object at a time. Yet, for obvious reasons, the wolf cannot be left alone with the goat, and the goat cannot be left alone with the cabbage. How should the ferryman proceed to get everything over to the right bank of the river?

Explanation / Answer

An interesting problem from around 775 A.D. involves a wolf[W], a goat[G], a bag of cabbage[C] and a ferryman[M]. From an initial position on the left bank [LB]of a river, the ferryman is able to transport the wolf, the goat and the cabbage to the right bank[RB]. The difficulty is that the ferryman can only transport himself and one other object at a time. Yet, for obvious reasons, the wolf cannot be left alone with the goat, and the goat cannot be left alone with the cabbage. How should the ferryman proceed to get everything over to the right bank of the river    LB HAS................RB HAS START ...M,W,G,C...ON LB..................................M,W,G,C...............NONE TRIP 1 ....M TAKES G FROM LB TO RB......................W,C.....................M,G TRIP 2 ....M RETURNS FROM RB TO LB.....................M,W,C.....................G TRIP 3.....M TAKES W FROM LB TO RB .....................C.......................M,W,G TRIP 4.....M RETURNS WITH G FROM RB TO LB...........M,G,C....................W TRIP 5...M TAKES C FROM LB TO RB ......................G.........................M,W,C TRIP 6 ...M RETURNS FROM RB TO LB .....................M,G.......................W,C TRIP 7....M TAKES G FROM LB TO RB ......................NONE...................M,W,G,C END.......M,W,G,C ON RB ......OVER.......................NONE....................M,W,G,C An interesting problem from around 775 A.D. involves a wolf[W], a goat[G], a bag of cabbage[C] and a ferryman[M]. From an initial position on the left bank [LB]of a river, the ferryman is able to transport the wolf, the goat and the cabbage to the right bank[RB]. The difficulty is that the ferryman can only transport himself and one other object at a time. Yet, for obvious reasons, the wolf cannot be left alone with the goat, and the goat cannot be left alone with the cabbage. How should the ferryman proceed to get everything over to the right bank of the river    LB HAS................RB HAS START ...M,W,G,C...ON LB..................................M,W,G,C...............NONE TRIP 1 ....M TAKES G FROM LB TO RB......................W,C.....................M,G TRIP 2 ....M RETURNS FROM RB TO LB.....................M,W,C.....................G TRIP 3.....M TAKES W FROM LB TO RB .....................C.......................M,W,G TRIP 4.....M RETURNS WITH G FROM RB TO LB...........M,G,C....................W TRIP 5...M TAKES C FROM LB TO RB ......................G.........................M,W,C TRIP 6 ...M RETURNS FROM RB TO LB .....................M,G.......................W,C TRIP 7....M TAKES G FROM LB TO RB ......................NONE...................M,W,G,C END.......M,W,G,C ON RB ......OVER.......................NONE....................M,W,G,C

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