A pail is filled with 18 litres of water. Use 3 empty containers A, B and C with capacity 8 litres, 7 litres and 2 litres respectively to divide the water into 3 equal portions in 7 steps or less. Please help.
fill A
fill C from A
pour A into B ... one portion
pour C into pail
fill A
fill C from A ... one portion in A
pour C into pail ... one portion in pail
To divide the water into 3 equal portions using the given containers (A, B, and C) in 7 steps or less, follow these steps:
1. Start with the pail containing 18 litres of water.
2. Fill container C completely with water from the pail. Now, the pail has 18 - 2 = 16 litres of water remaining.
3. Pour the water from container C into container A until A is full, which is 8 litres. Now, A has 8 litres of water, B is empty, and C is empty.
4. Pour the water from container A back into the pail, which leaves us with 16 + 8 = 24 litres of water in the pail.
5. Pour the water from the pail into container B until B is full, which is 7 litres. Now, A is empty, B has 7 litres of water, and C is empty.
6. Pour the water from container B back into the pail, which leaves us with 24 + 7 = 31 litres of water in the pail.
7. Fill container C with water from the pail until C is full, which is 2 litres. Now, A is empty, B is empty, and C has 2 litres of water.
Now, each container has an equal amount of water: A - 8 litres, B - 7 litres, and C - 2 litres.
These steps accomplish the task in 7 steps or less.