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Sept. 6, 2006
Time for Toast
Carol prides herself on being both thrifty and efficient. She still uses Grandma's old-fashioned toaster that holds two slices of bread, toasting one side at a time. It takes exactly 1 minute to toast one side of each piece of bread, then each slice has to be flipped over and put back into the toaster for 1 minute to toast the other side.
Every morning, Carol eats three slices of bread toasted on both sides. What's the shortest amount of time in minutes that it takes Carol to accomplish the toasting (assuming that it takes no time to do the flipping)?
Adapted from Visual Brainstorms, a brainteaser game from ThinkFun (www.thinkfun.com).
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It takes less than 6 minutes.
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It takes Carol 3 minutes to toast her three slices of bread.
Let's call the slices A, B, and C. Each slice has side 1 and side 2. Minute 1: Toast sides A1 and B1. Remove the slices, turn B around on the toaster. Put A aside and put C in the toaster. Minute 2: Toast B2 and C1. Remove the slices, turn C around, B is finished, and put A back in. Minute 3: Toast sides A2 and C2. All done!
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