Four walkers and one lantern on a narrow bridge
Question
Four people must cross a bridge at night. At most two can be on it at once, they share a single lantern that must accompany every crossing, and a pair moves at the slower person's speed. Individually they need , , and minutes. What is the shortest total time to get everyone across?
Short answer
minutes. Send and over (), bring back (), send and together (), bring back (), and send and again (). Pairing the two slowest saves more than having the fastest escort everyone ().
Adapted from QuantQuestions.io; question and answer rewritten by SelfMadeQuant.com.
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