Question

MATH RIDDLE~~~Can you figure it out?~~
There are four men who want to cross a bridge. They all begin on the same side. You have 17 minutes to get all of them across to the other side. It is night. There is one flashlight. A maximum of two people can cross at one time. Any party who crosses, either one or two people, must have the flashlight with them. The flashlight must be walked back and forth, it cannot be thrown, etc. Each man walks at a different speed. A pair must walk together at the rate of the slower man

Man 1: 1 minute to cross
Man 2: 2 minutes to cross
Man 3: 5 minutes to cross
Man 4: 10 minutes to cross

Answer 1

For example, if Man 1 and Man 4 walk across first, 10 minutes have elapsed when they get to the other side of the bridge. If Man 4 returns with the flashlight, a total of 20 minutes have passed, and you have failed the mission.

Answer 2

i cannot see a solution for this in 17 minutes.

Man4 & Man1 across : 10 minutes
then Man1 back alone : 11 minutes
Man3 & Man1 across : 16 minutes


then Man1 back alone
: 17 minutes
Man2 and Man1 across : 19 minutes

that is the best i can do. I must be missing some sneaky logic here, but i cannot

Answer 3

Its confusing at first but there is one solution:)

Answer 4

I tried

Answer 5

Men 1 and 2 travel over and man 2 brings back the flashlight: 4 min.
Men 3 and 4 travel over and man 1 brings back the flashlight: 11 min.
Men 1 and 2 travel over: 2 min.

Answer 6

Okay, interesting. So the key to this is finding a way to pair the two slowest walkers into one trip. However, you have to do so in a way that avoids forcing a long return trip.

Answer 7

Exactly:) Though I didn't get it when I first saw it either!