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]

A simple solution might be to first connect both bags by their openings. Then take the connected bags and drape them over a stick or rod so that it is divided equally. Then hold the stick where both bags are grazing the ground and divide the sand gold until it is level on both sides.

[Guest]

The solution:

As two bags are of same size, two fold the empty bag exactly at half and mark the place. Now fill the empty bag exactly upto the mark.

[Guest]

i know this is an old puzzle, but reading through it i noticed that no one thought of a simple (yet time consuming) solution.

as long as time is not of the essence, why not count the grains as they transfer them to the other bag, then divide the number of grains by 2 and add that number back to the orginal bag. there are probably enough grains to ensure an equal average grain size (eg. if you flip a coin twice you could get 2 heads, 2 tails, or one of each, but if you flip a coin a thousand times, the results will almost certainly be 50/50 heads to tails).

this is also assuming they can count

[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.

i dont think you are reading the question right... it says fairly not equally and if it is the perception of equality then both parties are happy, are they not?

the cake cutting method (one cuts other chooses) works fine in this case as it would be fair and they would be happy with the split

[Shakeepuddn]

Does the answer allow for some sort of tool to be used in splitting? Or is it just the bags and body parts?

[Shakeepuddn]

One man cups hands and other transfer gold into empty bag by pouring even handfuls into other man's cupped hands. Count, divide, re-transfer half way.

[Shakeepuddn]

punch a hole in gold bag, let it seep into empty bag while timing. Repour into hole bag and count again halfway.

[Guest]

one divides, other chooses

[Guest]

hmmm... so they find it in a chest, and bags of gold are found...

This solution only works if all the bags of gold COMPLETELY fills the chest

Take ALL the bags of gold, and dump it in the chest. (this will take it to the rim).

Now, tilt the chest (dumping into bags so it doesn't spill). Tilt it enough until it looks like a rectangle with a diagonal: YOU GOT HALVES!

[Guest]

find a flat rock surface and clean it up of all debris. On this the empty the bag of gold sand. They now fill the bag with normal desert sand. This normal sand too they pour on the rock surface and mix the gold sand and normal sand thoroughly. Both of them should do it so that none is left in any doubt that the mix is uniform. Now all they have to do is split the mixture - this should exactly fill up two bags.

[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).

The first person will try to split it in to even portions. However, this is next to impossible to split it exactly even. So the person who gets to choose his portion will always have the bigger portion. I know I'd always want to be the person who gets to choose.

[Guest]

Assuming these people could survive in the desert, I'd say they had a fire. I'd also assume they had their mining tools. They should use their tools to hollow out a rock into a cylinder, then put the gold in it. Then they melt the gold.

Afterwards, they both agree on half of the height of the cylinder, and put a hole there. The gold should drain out, leaving a much more exactly equal level of gold for each of them than measuring using the original grains.

It's a longshot, but I hope it works.

Edited May 29, 2010 by Jedimaster

[Guest]

I think that you could have one guy split up the "booty" and have the other guy decide which one he wants.I think that you could have one guy split up the "booty" and have the other guy decide which one he wants.

Edited June 11, 2010 by jakeknowslittle

[Guest]

one divides, one chooses

[Guest]

A twist on my last one, the two men choose one man's forearm. Then they have him lay his forearm down in the sand and mark out where his forearm started and where it ended. Then do it again from the end of the previous mark. Hollow out a rock to make it as long as the marks, and the cut the gold bar down the middle where the middle mark in the sand is. Kinda like this.

forearm1 forearm 2

l----------l----------l