A traveller has a 7-link gold chain.
He must pay one link a day for 7 days.
What’s the minimum number of cuts?

Q: A traveller has a 7-link gold chain. He must pay one link a day for 7 days. What’s the minimum number of cuts?

One cut — the third link.. Cut link 3 and you have pieces of 1, 2, and 4. Day 1: give 1. Day 2: give 2, take 1 back. Day 3: give 1. Day 4: give 4, take 1+2 back. And so on. One snip pays seven days.

Question

Accepted Answer

One cut — the third link. — Cut link 3 and you have pieces of 1, 2, and 4. Day 1: give 1. Day 2: give 2, take 1 back. Day 3: give 1. Day 4: give 4, take 1+2 back. And so on. One snip pays seven days.