SOLUTION: There are 4 men who want to cross a bridge. They all begin on the same side. Yo have 17 minutes to get all of them across to the other side. it is night. There is one flashlight

Question 12324: There are 4 men who want to cross a bridge. They all begin on the same side. Yo have 17 minutes to get all of them across to the other side. it is night. There is one flashlight. A maximum of two people can cross at one time. Any party who crosses, either 1 or 2 people, must have the flashlight with them. The flashlight must be walked back and forth, it cannot be thrown, etc. Each man walks at a different speed. A pair must walk together at the rate of the slower man's pace.
Man 1: 1 minute to cross
Man 2: 2 minutes to cross
Man 3: 5 minutes to cross
Man 4: 10 minutes to cross.
This is a straight-forward problem, there are no tricks. What is the combination adn sequence of the the men above crossing the bridge?
Answer by longjonsilver(2297) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
i cannot see a solution for this in 17 minutes.

Man4 & Man1 across : 10 minutes
then Man1 back alone : 11 minutes
Man3 & Man1 across : 16 minutes
then Man1 back alone : 17 minutes
Man2 and Man1 across : 19 minutes

that is the best i can do. I must be missing some sneaky logic here, but i cannot see it.

jon.

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