A Wine Problem for Puzzlers

Question

Simple Follow the instructions on the label.

In case you the image is too small, Given three bottles: 8, 5 and 3 liters capacity, divide 8 liters in half (4 + 4 liters) with the minimum number of wine transfers. Note that the 8-liter bottle is initially filled with 8 liters of wine and the other two bowls are empty. There is no extra wine anywhere, and this is not a trick question. It can be solved.

I made this from scratch using common variables for this puzzle. Unless someone is a mindreader, this is not a duplicate. There may be a similar puzzle with similar numbers, but as far as I know, questions don't get marked duplicate because it is "similar". — John S., May 01 '19 at 14:17
@Deusive, Ooooh I see why you marked duplicate. LOL they used the same data which would return same or close answer. Oh well, mine is a little different. I will get a little more random in the future! — John S., May 01 '19 at 15:46

hexomino · Accepted Answer · 2019-05-01T14:01:00.600

It can be done in

7 transfers

Method

1. Fill the 5-litre bottle from the 8-litre bottle
2. Fill the 3-litre bottle from the 5-litre bottle
3. Empty the contents of the 3-litre bottle into the 8-litre bottle
4. Empty the 2 litres in the 5-litre bottle into the 3-litre bottle
5. Fill the 5-litre bottle from the 8-litre bottle.
6. Fill the 3-litre bottle from the 5-litre bottle.
7. Empty the contents of the 3-litre bottle into the 8-litre bottle.

Table

Step       8L bottle       5L bottle       3L bottle
   0                8                   0                  0
   1                3                   5                  0
   2                3                   2                  3
   3                6                   2                  0
   4                6                   0                  2
   5                1                   5                  2
   6                1                   4                  3
   7                4                   4                  0

@OmegaKrypton Yes, it looked to be the same method. I think I've found a slightly improved version. — hexomino, May 01 '19 at 13:55

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered May 01 '19 at 13:46

Step   8L bottle   5L bottle   3L bottle 
 0         8           0           0
 1         5           0           3
 2         5           3           0
 3         2           3           3
 4         2           5           1
 5         7           0           1
 6         7           1           0
 7         4           1           3
 8         4           4           0

A Wine Problem for Puzzlers

2 Answers2