Logical Thinking: Camel Problem?

Question

A camel has to carry 3,000 bananas across a 1,000 mile desert.
These are the two conditions.
1. The camel can only carry 1,000 bananas at a time.
2. The camel eats one banana for each mile she travels.
What is the maximum number of bananas that will reach the other side of the desert?
Explain.

Answer 1

The best you can do is 533. Here is how:

1) Take 1000 and go 200 miles. Now you have 800. Leave 600 because you need 200 to go back.

2) Take 1000 and go 200 miles. Now you have 800. Take 200 from the 600 that was there, and go another 333 miles to reach 533 miles. Leave 334, and use the other 333 to get back to 200 mile. Take 200 from the 400 that was there and go all the way back.

3) Take the last 1000. Go 200 miles. Now you have 800. Take the 200 that was there. Now you have 1000 again. Go another 333 miles to reach 533 miles. Take 333 from what was there and now you have 1000 again. That leave 1 babana. Go ahead and eat it, you deseve it. So now you have a 1000 bananas with 467 miles to go, and when you cross the desert you have 533 remaining.

The best answer would have been 533 1/3 if you could split bananas.

Answer 2

Actually, it's not an impossible problem IF we make some assumptions.

On one hand, if we assume there's only one camel and it's a one-way trip, then the camel can't carry any bananas fully over. Starting with the maximum load of 1,000 bananas, the camel would end up eating all of them for the 1,000 mile trip.

HOWEVER...

These types of traveling problems usually have one of the following assumptions:
1) multiple carriers (in this case, more than one camel to pass off bananas to before heading back. But we don't see that here), or
2) the idea that a carrier can drop off a load at some point and pick it up later

If we can take #2 into account, then we get a different answer.

For example, if the camel starts off with 1000 bananas and goes 250 miles, the camel is a quarter of the way there with 750 bananas. Dropping off 500, the camel can make the trip back to start with the remaining bananas.

So now the camel loads up on another 1000 bananas, eats 250 along the way, and loads up on 250 in the pile she left earlier. She then goes to the 500-mile point, with a total of 750 bananas. The camel drops of 250 here, and goes all the way back to the start, winding up again with 0 bananas.

Finally, the camel takes the remaining 1000 bananas from the original stash, picks up a total of 500 bananas along the way from the two drop points, but ends up eating 1000 bananas along the way, she finally ends up at the destination with 500 extra bananas.

This is just using one example. You might be able to get different answers if you try different drop-off points and different amounts of bananas.

Answer 3

1

Answer 4

None of the bananas can end up on the other side of the desert because when the camel is loaded full with 1000 bananas, she will always eat all of them while crossing the desert.

However, if you are allowed to count bananas in the camel's stomach as being "carried," then she will be able to carry 1000 bananas to the other side of the desert in her stomach.

Answer 5

If she can only carry 1000 bananas, eats 1 per mile and the desert is 1000 miles across, she will not be able to get any bananas across the desert.

Your answer is 0.

Answer 6

to reach the other side 0, because the first time it goes it eats all the bananas and he does not have any for the trip bak so the rest dont make it because the camel dies in the middle of the desert :)

Answer 7

0 because the camel can only carry 1000, and eats one each mile for 1000 miles.

Answer 8

Sorry yet i will not stumble on a query everywhere in that. I appeared stressful. this is unusual that ladies folk ***** approximately being stared at maximum interior the Muslim worldwide - while interior the West males already comprehend this is impolite devoid of even understanding approximately Islam. humorous that.

Answer 9

i would say zero as every journey starts off with a thousand bananas but as a banana is eaten every mile by the 1000 mile mark all the bananas have been eaten

Answer 10

none. for every mile she travels she eats one banana and can only carry 1000 at a time over 1000 miles. By the time she gets to the end of her trip ................no mo nana's