Mathturion

The Rounds of Cheese

“Thus speaketh Gaius Marcellus, master cheesemonger of the market quarter and keeper of the imperial dairy stores: For this alone do I make a petition: that all the wheels of cheese be conveyed from one stool unto another, without setting the whole upon the ground; that every round at last come to rest upon the farther stool; and that never shall a greater cheese be placed atop a lesser. Whosoever accomplisheth this feat in the fewest motions shall earn the highest praise of this hall, and be granted a place of honor at our worthy host’s table.”

It is interesting to solve this puzzle with the smallest number of moves first with 5, then with 8, then with 10, and finally with 21 rounds of cheese.

Click a stool to lift its topmost round of cheese. Click another stool to place it there. You may not set a larger round upon a smaller one. Move all rounds from stool I to stool IV.