[CrackMonkey] [schoen@loyalty.org: Pill-weighing]

[Seth David Schoen]

Mr. Bad writes:

> >>>>> "SDS" == Seth David Schoen <schoen at loyalty.org> writes:
> 
>     SDS> You are a pharmacist, and [...]
> 
>     SDS> (1) You have n bottles of pills.
> 
> Seth, I haven't figured this out yet, but I have to ask first: are you
> allowed to open up the bottles of pills, and move the pills to other
> bottles?
> 
> I assume so, since otherwise the problem would probably deal with
> indivisible things (like pills themselves) rather than containers of
> things.

Yes, you may open up the bottles and move the pills from one place to
another (including onto your scale).

This is a scale which reads total weight (and I sent a message to Lisa
later on apologizing for gliding past the distinction between weight
and mass; if you prefer, you can use a scale which _indicates_ total
mass), not a two-pan balance.  And that's a fortunate thing, because
you have n bottles...

I'm assuming that the difference between a good pill and a bad pill is too
small to tell by feeling them, but that your scale could distinguish the
two easily.

-- 
Seth David Schoen <schoen at loyalty.org>  | And do not say, I will study when I
Temp.  http://www.loyalty.org/~schoen/  | have leisure; for perhaps you will
down:  http://www.loyalty.org/   (CAF)  | not have leisure.  -- Pirke Avot 2:5