Solution: Coin Capers
The Puzzle Corner last month was Coin Capers, where students were challenged to switch the position of coins in various arrays using the fewest number of moves each time. For the sake of simplicity, one move is considered to be any time a coin moves, regardless of the number of spaces it moves.
In version one, the pennies and dimes can be made to switch places in 20 moves.
In version two, both games can be solved in a total of 44 moves - 22 moves to switch each set of coins.
If you or your students are able to solve any of the versions in Coin Capers in a fewer number of moves, please send us a description of your solution(s) and we will try to print them in an upcoming issue.