Mission Statement
This blog celebrates all things mathematical. Solutions to the problems posed here will eventually appear at
Mathematics Resolution
Hints will often appear in the comment section. Feel free to comment, but reserve solutions to the Mathematics Resolution blog comment section.
Mathematics Resolution
Hints will often appear in the comment section. Feel free to comment, but reserve solutions to the Mathematics Resolution blog comment section.
About Me
- Magnus Daugroutes
- My pen name (pronounced dow-groots) is an anagram of a famous mathematician and popularizer of paradoxes.
Monday, January 24, 2011
A Simple Railroad Car Problem
Consider the simple railroad car problem
Two trains headed by engines wish to pass each other so that the trains are in the same order
after reassembly. There is one siding which will hold one car at a time. The engines may disconnect and go into the siding or they may push a car into the siding but only from the right side of the diagram.
This is similar to a sliding block puzzle except that that certain blocks or cars can only move if attached to the engines.
Give a solution to the problem. Is your solution the best (shortest number of moves) possible where a move is a position where a car has been put into the siding or removed from the siding.
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