Solve this Question:

There are four people in a house. A fireman, an athlete, an old woman and a drunk guy. The house catches fire and before the fact is known, it is too late. All they know is that the entire house is in flames and it will collapse exactly after twelve minutes. Now they can move out of the house but for that, they will have to pass the hallway which is entirely blazing with flames. Thus to move, one must carry a fire extinguisher to keep the flames away. Seeking the burnt wooden floor, only two person can run through that hallway at one time. But for others to go, one must return back with the fire extinguisher.The fireman, is trained for such tasks and can run through the hallway in a minute. The athlete can make it in a couple of minutes. The old woman can run slowly and will cover the hallway in four minutes. The drunk guy will take five minutes to run through it. If all of them can make it through the hallway in twelve minutes, all of them will be saved. When two move together, they will run with the speed of the slower one.

How will all four of them manage to run to safety?

sneha singh, 10 years ago

Grade:12

3 Answers

Ketan Jain

8 Points

10 years ago

first fireman and athlete will go- 2 minutes then fireman will return- 1 minute then old lady and drunk man will go- 5 minutes then athlete will return- 2 minutes then fireman and athlete will go- 2 minutes

dinesh

12 Points

10 years ago

--- >> fire man +ath 2 min --- << fire man 1 min --- >>old woman +drunk guy 5 min --- <> fireman +ath 2 min Total 12 min

Sashank Gambhira

10 Points

10 years ago

first fireman and athlete(2) go athelete stays while fireman(3) returns. Then woman and drunk guy go(8) and athlete returns(10) Then athlete and fireman go together(12) :D Solved