05 Jun '04 18:12>
There were 4 men stranded on a dessert island once. They decided to search the whole island and find what recources they had to live off. After searching all over they discover thre's plent yo f water but the only food available was coconuts. So they decided that they would collect al the coconuts on the isalnd and then devide them up between them, so they each got a fair share of the food currently avaialble.
They spent all day doing this and built a very large pile of the big hairy nuts (😉). They were all very tired though so they decided to to leave the pile and devide it up in the morning....
After a while one of the them was still awake and thinking, he was worried they did not have enough to live off. He got up and devided the coconuts into 4 piles and found one left over. This he thought would cause an argument in the morning so he threw it out to sea. Looking at his pile he decided it was a little small, so he burried his pile and put the other 3 back in to a big pile and went to sleep again.
a little while later another of the men woke....and he was worried they did not have enough to live off. He got up and devided the coconuts into 4 piles and found one left over. This he thought would cause an argument in the morning so he threw it out to sea. Looking at his pile he decided it was a little small, so he burried his pile and put the other 3 back in to a big pile and went to sleep again.
soon after the third amn got up and he to got up devided the coconuts into 4 piles and found one left over. This he thought would cause an argument in the morning so he threw it out to sea. Looking at his pile he decided it was a little small, so he burried his pile and put the other 3 back in to a big pile and went to sleep again.
finaly the 4th man got up, and as the other before him had he devided the coconuts into 4 piles and found one left over. This he thought would cause an argument in the morning so he threw it out to sea. Looking at his pile he decided it was a little small, so he burried his pile and put the other 3 back in to a big pile and went to sleep again.
The next morning they all got up and looked at the ground and generally avoided each others gazes, non one comented on the pile which was now a lot smaller! They devided the the coconuts up as planned in to 4 piles and discovered there was one left over. After a suprisingly short discussion they decided to throw it in the sea and each took there piles...
My puzzle is...finaly!..... what is the smallest number of coconuts they could have started with the previous night?
They spent all day doing this and built a very large pile of the big hairy nuts (😉). They were all very tired though so they decided to to leave the pile and devide it up in the morning....
After a while one of the them was still awake and thinking, he was worried they did not have enough to live off. He got up and devided the coconuts into 4 piles and found one left over. This he thought would cause an argument in the morning so he threw it out to sea. Looking at his pile he decided it was a little small, so he burried his pile and put the other 3 back in to a big pile and went to sleep again.
a little while later another of the men woke....and he was worried they did not have enough to live off. He got up and devided the coconuts into 4 piles and found one left over. This he thought would cause an argument in the morning so he threw it out to sea. Looking at his pile he decided it was a little small, so he burried his pile and put the other 3 back in to a big pile and went to sleep again.
soon after the third amn got up and he to got up devided the coconuts into 4 piles and found one left over. This he thought would cause an argument in the morning so he threw it out to sea. Looking at his pile he decided it was a little small, so he burried his pile and put the other 3 back in to a big pile and went to sleep again.
finaly the 4th man got up, and as the other before him had he devided the coconuts into 4 piles and found one left over. This he thought would cause an argument in the morning so he threw it out to sea. Looking at his pile he decided it was a little small, so he burried his pile and put the other 3 back in to a big pile and went to sleep again.
The next morning they all got up and looked at the ground and generally avoided each others gazes, non one comented on the pile which was now a lot smaller! They devided the the coconuts up as planned in to 4 piles and discovered there was one left over. After a suprisingly short discussion they decided to throw it in the sea and each took there piles...
My puzzle is...finaly!..... what is the smallest number of coconuts they could have started with the previous night?