Solutions to the Puzzles

Following are the solutions to the puzzles posted earlier:

Puzzle No.1:

Cannibals and Missionaries (River Crossing Puzzles) posted on 18th February.

Solution:

(C stands for Cannibals and M stands for Missionaries, three Missionaries are M1, M2 & M3 and three Cannibals are C1, C2 & C3)


Following are the steps:

1> C1+C2 go and C2 return
2> C2+C3 go and C3 return
now situation is C3M1M2M3 with boat at starting end and C1C2 at destination end

3> M1+M2 will go and C2+M2 return
now C2C3M2M3 with boat at starting end and C1M1 at destination

4> now M2+M3 will go and and C1 will return
5> C1+C2 go and C2 return
6> C2+C3 go ...end


Puzzle No.2:

The Bridge posted on 23rd February.

Solution:

First man 1 and man 2 walk across the bridge. This takes 2 minutes.


After this, man 1 walks back with the flashlight. This takes 1 minute.

Then man 3 and man 4 walk across the bridge. This takes 10 minutes.

After this, man 2 walks back with the flashlight. This takes 2 minutes.

Then man 1 and man 2 walk across the bridge. This takes 2 minutes as before.

Total: 2+1+10+2+2=17 minutes.