A man has a dog, cat, and mouse on one side of the river. He needs to get all of the animals over to the other side of the river. He can only take one animal at a time. If he leaves the cat alone with the mouse the cat will eat the mouse. If the dog is alone with the cat the dog will eath the cat. Devise a strategy to get all three animals across, one at a time, without any of them perishing.
Cat first, come back, take dog and bring back cat. Take mouse, come back and take cat.
You know I stumbled onto that answer yesterday, but I had to fiddle with the program so it would let me do it. Thank you for your answer. It took me days to figure that out. Before my brain surgeries it would have taken me at most 1/2 hour. Che!
I was in the hospital yesterday so I was only online for a little while and forgot to check for an answer.
Thanks again.
To devise a strategy to get all three animals (dog, cat, and mouse) across the river without any of them perishing, we need to consider the following constraints:
1. The cat cannot be left alone with the mouse.
2. The dog cannot be left alone with the cat.
Here's one possible strategy to solve this puzzle:
1. The man takes the cat across the river and leaves it on the other side.
2. The man comes back alone to the starting side.
3. The man takes the dog across the river.
4. The man leaves the dog on the other side and takes the cat back with him to the starting side.
5. The man leaves the cat on the starting side and takes the mouse across the river.
6. The man leaves the mouse on the other side and returns alone.
7. The man takes the cat across the river again.
Now, all three animals (dog, cat, and mouse) are safely on the other side of the river without any of them perishing.
It's important to note that during each crossing, the man must ensure that the cat and mouse are not left alone together, and the dog and cat are not left alone together. By carefully following this strategy, all animals can be safely transported across the river.