Desert Treasure!

[Guest]

This is an old logic puzzle... more of a like imaginary...

long story short... Two men found a whole bag of sand gold (its not solid ok?) treasure in the desert ... Time came when they had to split thier ways and devide this whole bag... However they dont have anykind of measuring equipment/tool.... Nothing. just 2 bags. (ofcourse one is full with sand gold)

How can they split it fairly So both parties agree on it and are happy about the split.

p.s. sorry my english is horrible feel free to ask questions.

[Guest]

One will be in charge of splitting it in two portions, and the other will get to decide which portion he wants to keep. This will insure that the one in charge of splitting portions will do it as evenly as possible (he wouldn't make one bag contain more as that is the bag the other will naturally choose).

[Guest]

I wouldnt doubt that you coudlnt get that one Martini

lets see how others will do

P.s. btw i had all my co-workers thinking on that Soldiers crossing the bridge puzzle

[Guest]

Cool!

[propsguy]

Like a mom's trick with two children and the last piece of cake: one gets to cut, the other gets to choose.

[Guest]

This is an old logic puzzle... more of a like imaginary...

long story short... Two men found a whole bag of sand gold (its not solid ok?) treasure in the desert ... Time came when they had to split thier ways and devide this whole bag... However they dont have anykind of measuring equipment/tool.... Nothing. just 2 bags. (ofcourse one is full with sand gold)

How can they split it fairly So both parties agree on it and are happy about the split.

p.s. sorry my english is horrible <!-- s:) --><!-- s:) --> feel free to ask questions.

they left the bag behind. that way it was split perfectly even.

c'mon, post the answer as a spoiler. at least so we can know if we guessed right or not.

[Guest]

Yeah, I think this was on the Brady Bunch concerning a peanut butter sandwich. And Solomon had the same dilemma (though slightly different outcome) with the two women and the child.

[Guest]

This is an old logic puzzle... more of a like imaginary...

long story short... Two men found a whole bag of sand gold (its not solid ok?) treasure in the desert ... Time came when they had to split thier ways and devide this whole bag... However they dont have anykind of measuring equipment/tool.... Nothing. just 2 bags. (ofcourse one is full with sand gold)

How can they split it fairly So both parties agree on it and are happy about the split.

p.s. sorry my english is horrible <!-- s:) --><!-- s:) --> feel free to ask questions.

Assume that 2 bags are the same size!

they can slit evenly (or nearly) with the following steps:

1. Empty and flatten the second bag on the sand (in desert... lot of sand)

2. Pour the sand gold out from the gold bag,

3. Fill the empty gold bag with desert sand

4. Pour sand out on the gold

5. Mix the gold and sand evenly

6. Fill the gold bag with gold+sand mix until full

7. The leftover will be another portion.

[Guest]

Assume that 2 bags are the same size!

they can slit evenly (or nearly) with the following steps:

1. Empty and flatten the second bag on the sand (in desert... lot of sand)

2. Pour the sand gold out from the gold bag,

3. Fill the empty gold bag with desert sand

4. Pour sand out on the gold

5. Mix the gold and sand evenly

6. Fill the gold bag with gold+sand mix until full

7. The leftover will be another portion.

OK, you can have the first bag and I will take the second bag!!! Deal?

Sand is lighter than gold which would mean because of your movements gold would settle in the second bag. litterally more gold would be in the second bag. Maybe not much more but I would take the second bag every time for even this slight difference would mean I would always get the larger share.

[Guest]

The mixing solution depends on the assumption that the size of the grains of desert sand and gold sand are the same. Lets start with the desert sand. If you magnified it you would see that there were gaps between the grains -- not all the space is filled. If the gold sand is small enough then each grain of gold sand would fit in the spaces between the desert sand grains. One bag of desert sand plus one bag of gold sand would produce one bag of mixed sand. The same thing would happen with the sizes reversed. With less of a size difference the problem would be less extreme but would still exist.

This is real, not a mathematical quibble. Try mixing a measure of course sand with a measure of confectioners' sugar (or, even more extreme, rice with the sugar) and see if you get two full measures out.

I would stick with the classic cake cutting method several people mentioned (one divides, one chooses).

[Guest]

The mixing solution depends on the assumption that the size of the grains of desert sand and gold sand are the same. Lets start with the desert sand. If you magnified it you would see that there were gaps between the grains -- not all the space is filled. If the gold sand is small enough then each grain of gold sand would fit in the spaces between the desert sand grains. One bag of desert sand plus one bag of gold sand would produce one bag of mixed sand. The same thing would happen with the sizes reversed. With less of a size difference the problem would be less extreme but would still exist.

This is real, not a mathematical quibble. Try mixing a measure of course sand with a measure of confectioners' sugar (or, even more extreme, rice with the sugar) and see if you get two full measures out.

I would stick with the classic cake cutting method several people mentioned (one divides, one chooses).

if they don't have anything, where are they going to get confectioner's sugar in the desert?

Now if they have stuff... I suggest a gun so one can shoot the other and then both will be happy... one in this world with the gold... and the other in the next life/heaven/or whatever you believe in.

I'm sure no one will like that as an answer though.

[Guest]

transfer all of the gold dust to the other bag - measuring it as you go. When complete, measure one half of the quantity as you move it back into the first bag.

[Guest]

transfer all of the gold dust to the other bag - measuring it as you go. When complete, measure one half of the quantity as you move it back into the first bag.

the OP says "they have no measuring equipment/tool" so they cannot measure it as they transfer the gold.

also you can't time the pouring of the gold --> humans are imperfect, they cannot do the exact same thing twice, there will always be a slight fluctuation no matter how hard you try.

Edited February 20, 2008 by jesusfreak1024

[Guest]

1. Tie the two bags together so that the gold can flow between the two of them.

2. Hold one bag in each hand and allow the gold to fill both sacks to approximately the same level.

3. Do your best impression of an italian pizza maker... twirl the bags in the air and allow centrifugal force to equalize the disbursement of the gold.

4. Catch the bags by the seam before they hit the ground.

5. Remove the seam and each party takes one bag.

[Guest]

One will be in charge of splitting it in two portions, and the other will get to decide which portion he wants to keep. This will insure that the one in charge of splitting portions will do it as evenly as possible (he wouldn't make one bag contain more as that is the bag the other will naturally choose).

There can be a lil filter applied here to make the chances (or rather probability) fair.

1. Let the first one split the share once.

2. Then allow the share to be split (or modified) again by the other guy (This would thus give him also an equal chance and not allow to cheat.)

3. Let the first one chose from the two shares!!

In this way, both the guys get a chance to split the share. So even if the first guy did the splitting, the second guy can be assured of making some minor changes if he wants. And the second guy would obviously not cheat(in fact none will cheat in splitting now!) coz the priority of choosing the share would go to first guy only.

This would also be fair, coz here the IMPORTANT thing is to make an equal share, which no one would like to compromise with. Chosing the bag would be a factor of luck/hunch. And this reduces risk of cheatings

[Guest]

yeh one splits other chooses!! same with puddings and chocolate lol!!

[Guest]

One will be in charge of splitting it in two portions, and the other will get to decide which portion he wants to keep. This will insure that the one in charge of splitting portions will do it as evenly as possible (he wouldn't make one bag contain more as that is the bag the other will naturally choose).

I like your idea. However, since humans are imperfect, one will probably be a minute amount larger than the other. I would always want to be the second person (the one who gets to choose) so I'd have the opportunity to get the larger bag if I could detect which one it is. So what if both want to be second for the same reason? The one who had to divide would leave feeling like it wasn't totally fair. Maybe a case for a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, to decide who goes first.

[Guest]

how about they bring it to some professionals who will do it for them?

[Guest]

Assuming one bag is empty and the other full of sand gold, and both bags are the same size, then fold the empty bag in half, note the halfway mark and pour the contents of the full bag into the empty bag up to the halfway mark.

[Guest]

The cake cutting method depends on both parties being equally skilled in physically splitting the cake or gold... What if the other guy had one arm? Then I would want him to split to take advantage of his likely unfair division. So how do you decide fairly who does the splitting and who does the choosing?

[Guest]

The mixing solution depends on the assumption that the size of the grains of desert sand and gold sand are the same. Lets start with the desert sand. If you magnified it you would see that there were gaps between the grains -- not all the space is filled. If the gold sand is small enough then each grain of gold sand would fit in the spaces between the desert sand grains. One bag of desert sand plus one bag of gold sand would produce one bag of mixed sand. The same thing would happen with the sizes reversed. With less of a size difference the problem would be less extreme but would still exist.

This is real, not a mathematical quibble. Try mixing a measure of course sand with a measure of confectioners' sugar (or, even more extreme, rice with the sugar) and see if you get two full measures out.

I would stick with the classic cake cutting method several people mentioned (one divides, one chooses).

That wouldn't matter as long as the sand and the gold were uniformly mixed. You'd get higher or lower ratio of sand to gold if the grains were different sizes, but as long as the mixture is uniformly homogeneous, you'll get just as much sand (and gold) in each portion.

Then you get to separate sand and gold.

The cake cutting method doesn't ensure even portions, just the perception of even portions.

Spook

[Guest]

Desert island... so it doesn't matter if its divided evenly, they cant do anything with it! So wait to be rescued and then measure and divide.

[Guest]

Damn you mom! I hated when we had to do this....

[Guest]

why not just pinch the bag to equal levels?

pinch middle to lower portion of bag and measure full bag until levels are about even

[Guest]

where is the logic part of the question?

how can you be stuck in the desert with a bag of gold and no way of measuring?

do they not have a canteen? pockets? shoes?

i make you dump out your water and use your canteen to measure the gold,

you can take the larger bag if you'd like,

and i'd keep my water and follow you out

maybe trade you some gold for water

or just take when you... "pass out" from dehydration

you split

i adjust

you choose....

[Guest]

The cake solution seems best - remember that fairly doesn't necessarily mean equal. The link posted by the OP (the dictionary definition) doesn't use the word "equal". So, like many earlier poster have put, the person dividing the gold will do their utmost to keep it equal.