Problem of the Week
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Spring 2010 POTW winners
Congratulations to our Spring 2010 winners: Roland Womack and Charles Madden! They also tied for longest streak of answered questions.
Spring 2010 Problem 8: Moving an iron chest
The picture below shows an iron chest BCDE. It is three feet by four feet and is resting on a floor with one foot tiles. At A, there is an iron pillar.
The owner of the chest would like to move the chest around the pillar to the outlined position. However, the chest is so heavy, it cannot be pushed or shoved. The only way to move the chest is to lift up one side (so the chest is resting on one leg) and rotate the chest around that leg. What is the least number of turns needed to move the chest (and what are those turns)? (You may ignore the thickness of the pillar at A.)
Solution
Since no one solved this one, I'll keep it around for future semesters to ponder!