Question: Three Gold (G) coins, three Silver (S) coins and three Copper (C) coins are arranged in a
single row as follow: G S C G S C G S C
* Only 2 adjacent unlike coins can be moved at any one time.
* The moved coins must be in contact with at least one other coin in line. i.e. no pair of coins is to be moved and placed away from the remaining ones.
* No coin pairs can be reversed i.e. a S-C combination must remain in that order in its new positionwhen it is moved.
What is the minimum number of moves required to get all the coins in following order?
C C C S S S G G G
Show all moves.
Answer:
Minimum number of moves are 8.
Move Order of Coins
0 G S C G S C G S C
1 G S G S C G S C C
2 G S C G S C C S G
3 G S C G S C C S G
4 G S C C S G S C G
5 G S C C S C S G G
6 G S C C C S S G G
7 C C C S S G G S G
8 C C C S S S G G G