Two men are moving boxes from the first floor to the third. The larger man can carry two boxes at a time, and it takes him one minute to get to the third floor. The smaller man can carry only one box at a time, but it takes him just 30 seconds to make it to the third floor. For both men, the return trip to the first floor is the same as the trip up.
If there were seven boxes total, how many minutes would it take the men to get all the boxes to the third floor?
UK Version
Two men are moving boxes from the ground floor to the top floor. The larger man can carry two boxes at a time, and takes one minute to get to the top floor. The smaller man can only carry one box at a time, but takes just 30 seconds to reach the top floor. Both men take the same amount of time to return to the ground floor as they do to reach the top floor. The boxes are too bulky to pass from one man to the other on the way up.
If there were seven boxes in total, how many minutes would it take the men to get all the boxes to the top floor?
You can get the answer by calculating everything out, but it's a lot easier to visualize if you use the Memo function. After one minute has passed, how many boxes have been moved?
And where are the locations of the two men at that time?
UK Version
You can find the answer by doing a lot of calculations, but it's much easier to visualise if you use the Memo Function.
How many boxes have been moved after one minute? And where are the two men at that point?
US Version
After a minute is up, the larger man has carried two boxes up and the smaller man has carried one. The larger man is still upstairs, though, while the little guy has made it back down to the first floor.
If this is the case, what's their progress after two minutes?
UK Version
After one minute, the larger man has carried two boxes up and the smaller man has carried one. The larger man is still upstairs though, while the little chap has made it back down to the ground floor.
If this is the case, what's their progress after two minutes?
US Version
At the end of two minutes, the larger fellow has made it down to the first floor again and is ready to bring up some more boxes. The little guy has brought another box upstairs, for a total of four boxes on the third floor. That means there are just three boxes left to move.
UK Version
After two minutes, the larger fellow has made it down to the ground floor again and is ready to carry up some more boxes. His friend has brought another box upstairs, so there are a total of four boxes on the top floor.
This means that there are just three boxes left to move.
US Version
In the earlier hints, you learned that after two minutes have passed, four boxes had been brought upstairs and both men were back down on the first floor.
If it takes 30 seconds for the little guy to get upstairs with one box, and the larger fellow can make it upstairs with two boxes in a minute...
UK Version
From the previous hints you know that after two minutes, four boxes have been brought upstairs, and both men are back down on the ground floor.
If it takes 30 seconds for the smaller man to get upstairs with one box, and the larger fellow can make it upstairs with two boxes in a minute...
Solution
Incorrect
Too bad!
US Version
Rather than just working the puzzle out in your head, try making notes on the picture using the Memo function.
UK Version
Rather than just trying to work the puzzle out in your head, use the Memo Function to make some notes.
Correct
Correct!
US Version
It would take three minutes to get all the boxes to the top floor. This puzzle gets a lot easier if you draw a diagram.
UK Version
It would take three minutes to get all the boxes to the top floor. This puzzle gets a lot easier if you make some notes.