Measure

You are given three jugs with a capacity of 8, 5 and 3 litres respectively. The 8-litre jug is filled to the top with water whereas the other two jugs are empty. You are asked to divide the 8 litres of water into two equal parts of 4 litres and in as few steps as possible.

Each step involves pouring water from one jug into one of the other two jugs. Note: the jugs are not calibrated (i.e. there are no line markings). Therefore, in each step one of the jugs needs to be completely emptied or completely filled in order to know exactly how much water has just been poured.

How many steps do you need and what are the steps?


ANSWER: It is possible to achieve the task with the following 7 steps:

Start	8	0	0
Step 1	3	5	0
Step 2	3	2	3
Step 3	6	2	0
Step 4	6	0	2
Step 5	1	5	2
Step 6	1	4	3
Step 7	4	4	0