Milkman's Puzzle

Honest John says: What I don't know about milk is scarcely worth mentioning, but he was flabbergasted one day when each of two ladies asked him for two quarts of milk. One lady had a five-quart pail and the other had a four-quart pail. John had only two ten-gallon cans, each full of milk. How did he measure out exactly two quarts of milk for each lady?

It is a juggling trick pure and simple, devoid of trick or device, but it calls for much cleverness to get two quarts of milk into those two pails without making use of any receptacles other than the two pails and the two full cans.

Originally posted by villa68

Honest John says: What I don't know about milk is scarcely worth mentioning, but he was flabbergasted one day when each of two ladies asked him for two quarts of milk. One lady had a five-quart pail and the other had a four-quart pail. John had only two ten-gallon cans, each full of milk. How did he measure out exactly two quarts of milk for each lady?
...[text shortened]... o pails without making use of any receptacles other than the two pails and the two full cans.

10 gallons = 40 quarts


just relised people may not know this

1. Fill the five-quart with milk from one of the big buckets.
2. Fill the four-quart with the five-quart. One quart is left in the five-quart pail.
3. Empty the four-quart, and pour the quart remaining in the five-quart into it.
4. Fill the five-quart again, then again fill the four-quart pail to the rim.
5. Now there should be two quarts left in the five-quart pail.

Originally posted by zamba
1. Fill the five-quart with milk from one of the big buckets.
2. Fill the four-quart with the five-quart. One quart is left in the five-quart pail.
3. Empty the four-quart, and pour the quart remaining in the five-quart into it.
4. Fill the five-quart again, then again fill the four-quart pail to the rim.
5. Now there should be two quarts left in the five-quart pail.

that was good but you need to get 2 quarts for each of the people

so a little more work is needed

a puzzle which is as yet not fully solved, very strange for this site for a puzzle not to be solved within a week
🙂

Originally posted by villa68
that was good but you need to get 2 quarts for each of the people

so a little more work is needed

6. Now you have two quarts in the five-quart pail, and in the two ten-gallon cans, there will be 40 and 38 quarts.
7. Fill the four-quart pail with milk from the can with 40 quarts.
8. Fill the can with 38 quarts, with milk from the four-quarts. Then you got two quarts back in the four-quart pail too.