Picarats: 50
On the counter we have a 10-quart pitcher full of milk, an empty seven-quart pitcher, and an empty three-quart pitcher. The pitchers are unmarked, and your task is to divide the 10 quarts of milk so that both the 10-quart pitcher and the seven-quart pitcher are each holding exactly five quarts.
Hint One: You can use the same strategy you used for the juice puzzle on this puzzle
Simply shifting some milk over to one of the smaller pitchers won't get you the five quarts you need. Pay attention to what remains when you pour some milk into the smallest pitcher.
Hint Two: Pour milk from the 10-quart pitcher into the seven-quart pitcher. Then take the contents of that pitcher and pour what you can into the three-quart pitcher. This leaves you with four quarts in the seven-quart pitcher. After that, return the contents of the three-quart pitcher to the 10-quart pitcher and refill the smallest pitcher using the seven-quart pitcher. This should leave you with one quart in the seven-quart pitcher. Next....
Hint Three: Now you should have one quart left in your seven-quart pitcher. Empty the contents of your smallest pitcher into the 10-quart pitcher, then pour the one quart into the smallest pitcher.
You should now have nine quarts left in your ten quart pitcher, so pour seven of them into the middle pitcher. Next take your newly filled seven-quart pitcher and pour the milk into your three-quart pitcher. You should already have one quart in the small pitcher, so...
Solution:
If you keep at it long enough, you'll eventually come across the solution. The shortest possible solution requires nine moves.
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