When does mathematics look like a big fancy wedding cake? Why, when you’re playing the 19th-century
French game The Tower of Hanoi, of course! Have you ever played it before? I’ll give you a rundown…
YOU WILL NEED:
– Three differently-sized
objects that can be stacked
from largest to smallest (it
doesn’t have to be cake, but
what else could we use in
this issue, ed?)
Shortest Solution
Okay, you’re back! Did you manage to
solve it? Do you think you found the
shortest solution? Check and see below.
1 Move Layer 1 to Area C
– Three distinct stacking areas.
THE RULES
2 Move Layer 2 to Area B
3 Move Layer 1 on top of Layer 2
Let’s call the stacking areas A, B
and C, and the objects Layer 1,
Layer 2, and Layer 3. Layer 1 is
the smallest.
Start with all three objects in
Area A, stacked like a cake from
largest to smallest.
The goal is to move all the
objects across to Area C, and
make an identical cake.
But there are two rules:
– You can only move one object
at a time.
– You cannot EVER stack a
larger object on top of a smaller
one.
Now quick, close the magazine
(I know, it ’s a wrench) and
have a go at it! Once you get
the hang of the rules, see if you
can do it in the fewest number
of moves possible. No really, I’m
waiting for you to close the
magazine now.
4 Move Layer 3 to Area C
5 Move Layer 1 to Area A
6 Move Layer 2 on top of Layer 3
7 Move Layer 1 on top of Layer 2
Only seven moves!