Problem:

A farmer wants to get from river bank A to river bank B by crossing a river with his fox, chicken and bag of corn, but his boat is so small that he can only take one across at a time. He cannot leave the fox alone with the chicken and he cannot leave the chicken alone with corn. How does the farmer get all three across the river?

Scroll to the bottom of the page for the answer

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Solution:

The farmer must take the chicken across first (leaving the fox and the corn on river bank A). He then takes the fox across second, but instead of leaving the fox with the chicken, he swaps the fox for the chicken (taking the chicken back to the river bank A). He then swaps the chicken out for the corn, bringing the corn over to be with the fox on river bank B. Lastly, he goes back for the chicken and brings it to river bank B.