Can you solve the seven planets riddle? - Edwin F. Meyer
Practice more problem-solving at https://brilliant.org/TedEd/ Solution to the bonus riddle mentioned at the end: https://brilliant.org/TedEdTitanic/ Your interstellar police squad has tracked...
==========
Your interstellar police squad has tracked a group of dangerous rebels to a cluster of of seven small planets. Now you must apprehend them quickly before their reinforcements arrive. Of course, the rebels won’t just stay put. They’ll try to dodge you by moving from planet to planet. But you have one major advantage. Every hour, your state-of-the-art cruiser can warp between any two planets, while their beat-up smuggling ship can only jump to an adjacent planet in that same time. These rebels don’t like to stay put. Every time they can relocate, they will. Your scouts tell you that the approaching rebel fleet is 10 hours away. You can’t risk letting the rebels escape. Can you devise a sequence for searching the planets that’s guaranteed t...
==========
Your interstellar police squad has tracked a group of dangerous rebels to a cluster of of seven small planets. Now you must apprehend them quickly before their reinforcements arrive. Of course, the rebels won’t just stay put. They’ll try to dodge you by moving from planet to planet. But you have one major advantage. Every hour, your state-of-the-art cruiser can warp between any two planets, while their beat-up smuggling ship can only jump to an adjacent planet in that same time. These rebels don’t like to stay put. Every time they can relocate, they will. Your scouts tell you that the approaching rebel fleet is 10 hours away. You can’t risk letting the rebels escape. Can you devise a sequence for searching the planets that’s guaranteed t...
