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29 votes
29 votes
I give you a two panned scale. you are given 4 bags that you can decide to be any positive integer of grams in weight. For example you can have 3 bags be 2 grams and one be 2938 grams. Now once you have decided on the weights you would like your bags to be, you must use these bags to measure a ball that is any integer from 1-30 grams in weight. can you do it? what sac weights would work? what if the ball was 1-50 grams? can you still do it? whats the limit?For example: assume that the weight of the 4 sacs were 1,2,9,10:then since you cannot use these weights to measure the ball if the ball was 4 grams. Then the best range you can do is 1-3 grams.on the other hand lets say you had the numbers 1,2,8,9: here are all the weights you could measure:1,2,3,(by putting the ball on one side of the scale and the 1 and 2 bags on the other)4,(by putting the ball and the 8 bag on one side and the 1,2,9 bag on the other side)5,(1,2,ball one side, 8 other side)6,(2,ball one side 8 other side)7,(1,ball one side 8 other side)8,9,101112and you can't do 13....so your maximum range for these 4 weights would be 1-12.can you make a range of 1-30?? even better??

User Archeosudoerus
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2.0k points

1 Answer

17 votes
17 votes

FOR THESE SET OF WEIGHTS THE FOLLOWING MASS OF BALLS CAN BE MEASURED

Weights and mass of balls in grams:

2, 5, 8, 15

30

26

20

14

13

7

23

17

15

8

5

2

16

10

4

12

18

11

28

1

3

6

22

21

25,

User Trejder
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3.7k points