[CV021] Pill Prescription

021 - Pill Prescription

Pill Prescription is a puzzle in Professor Layton and the Curious Village.

Puzzle

A man has been prescribed 10 pills. Starting today, he must take one pill a day, but because the concentration of the medicine is different in each pill, he must take them in a specific order. Since the pills all look the same, the man has decided to write numbers on each pill to help him remember the order he needs to take them in.

How many pills does he have to number if he wants to keep track of the order?

Hints

Click a Tab to reveal the Hint.

If the man wants to indicate the order in which he needs to take his pills, he just needs to write a number on each of the 10 pills. While that's true, the bare minimum of numbers he needs to write is fewer than 10. Think about how he can accomplish this.

When you have two visually identical items, you only need to mark one of them. Therefore, you don't need to mark each pill to tell them apart.

Keep in mind that the man must start taking his pills today. In fact, he's going to start by taking the pill right in front of him.

If that's the case, does he really need to mark which pill he's going to take today?

Solution

Incorrect

Too bad!

What conditions will allow you to get away with labeling fewer than all 10 pills?

Correct

Good job!

Since the man has to start taking his medicine today, the first thing he should do is take today's pill. Next, he should label the pills for days two through nine. If he does this, he shouldn't have to label the pill for the last day; it will be the only one without a label.

He only needs to label eight pills.

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