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Questions tagged [decanting-problems]

A strategic puzzle centered around pouring liquids between containers of different capacities, with the goal of measuring exactly n liters.

Decanting problems (also known as jug-pouring problems or water-pouring problems) are where there are various containers with various known capacities for keeping various liquids.

The goal is to design a strategy for pouring the liquid between the bottles, so that a certain goal situation is reached.

A simple example is:

There are two bottles that can hold 3 litres and 5 litres respectively, and a bathtub with unlimited water.

How can 1 litre be measured?

Fill 3. Fill 5 with 3. Fill 3. Fill 5 with 3. 3 now has 1L.

More examples and analysis of the problems can be found here:

37 questions
8
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Water Jugs (10, 5 and 6) -v2-

I have three water jugs, one with 10 liters another with 5 and another with 6, how do i get 8 liters on the first one with 10 liters of water available. (so you cannot fill 10 liters jug again)
Oray
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6
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2 answers

Water jug for gaining 8 gallons of water?

I have gone through simple water jug problems like this link but when there are 3 jugs: 16 Galoon jug with water filled. 11 Galoon empty jug. 6 Galoon empty jug. Find a solution to gain 8 Galoon, using these 3 jugs.
KRU
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6
votes
2 answers

Equal wine distribution among 4 friends

There are two bottles of wine each of capacity 800 ml. These are to be shared among 4 friends so that each will get 400 ml. There is no measuring instrument to measure out the exact volume but there are two glasses that can measure out exactly 300…
Afnan Shah Qureshi
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4
votes
3 answers

Filling water jugs

You have three jugs with volumes of 12, 8, and 5 liters. The 12L jug is full of water, while the other two jugs are empty. You have no other source of water. Using these jugs, how can you obtain exactly 6 liters of water in the 12L jug?
Cassey
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4
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14 answers

Lethal Solution

You are given 4 identical glasses, completely filled with transparent, odorless liquids. Three of the liquids are pure water, and the fourth is poison, which is slightly heavier. If the water glasses weigh 250 grams each, and the poisoned glass…
TSLF
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3
votes
1 answer

Collecting 9 oz of rum with a 5 oz and a 12 oz flask

Raffeal has purchased a ticket to dip his home-brought flask into a free-flowing rum collection pool and take 9 oz of rum. His rum will be weighed before leaving and if it weighs more than 9 oz (not including the weight of the flask) he will be told…
Follow
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1
vote
2 answers

smort bee honey

You have decided that you want to become chubbee, but not too much. You will need to eat exactly 10 liters of honey in order to achieve the desired effect. The bees produce 10 liters of honey on request, with an additional amount as a gift. But…
user74000
-1
votes
1 answer

Split 10L in half using 4L and 6L jugs

You are given 3 jugs: a 10L jug (full) a 4L jug (empty) a 6L jug (empty) The task is to split the 10L so that there are 5L each in the 10L and 6L jugs, and none in the 4L jug. Solve or prove that it is impossible.
jagabee231
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