Soldiers and the Tiny Rowboat

The Capacity Puzzle

A detachment of 3 soldiers must cross a river. Two boys are playing in a rowboat by the shore.

Boat capacity:

• Can hold 2 boys OR 1 soldier
• (A soldier is heavier than a boy!)

Goal: Get all 3 soldiers across, leaving the boys with the boat on the original side.

Note: We've simplified this to 3 soldiers instead of 25 to make the interactive manageable. The algorithm is the same—it just repeats!