DECEMBER CHALLENGE " More or less "
Given 9 balls all of which weigh the same except for one , what is the minimum of weighings necessary to find the ball weighs more ( or less )?
Please send you answers to Thomas Selling via e-mail :
thomasselling @ me . com Correct responses will be recognized in the future issues of the New Hampshire Civil Engineer .
NOVEMBER SOLUTION
Since the laptops are all otherwise identical , all that matters is determining which laptops need to go to the U . S . Adding ports to a laptop increases the weight , so the U . S . laptops will be slightly heavier . Mark should take one laptop each from pallets 1-5 , and balance that group against laptops taken from pallets 6-10 . After determining which group is heavier , he should balance two laptops from that group against two other laptops from that group . If one of those pairs is heavier , he should balance those two laptops against each other to determine which is the one destined for the U . S . If both of those pairs weigh the same , then he knows the remaining laptop is from the pallet meant for the U . S .
No Correct Responses Submitted