Mathematical optimization | Logic puzzles | Recreational mathematics
Jeep problem
The jeep problem, desert crossing problem or exploration problem is a mathematics problem in which a jeep must maximize the distance it can travel into a desert with a given quantity of fuel. The jeep can only carry a fixed and limited amount of fuel, but it can leave fuel and collect fuel at fuel dumps anywhere in the desert. The problem first appeared in the 9th-century collection Propositiones ad Acuendos Juvenes (Problems to Sharpen the Young), attributed to Alcuin, with the puzzle being about a travelling camel eating grain. The De viribus quantitatis (c. 1500) of Luca Pacioli also discusses the problem. A modern treatment was given by N. J. Fine in 1947. Variations of the problem are the camel and bananas problem where a merchant must maximize the number of bananas transported to a market using a camel that feeds on the bananas, the travelers across the desert problem where a number of travellers must all reach a destination and can only exchange supplies rather than leaving them, and the cars across the desert problem which again can only exchange their fuel, but where empty cars can be abandoned. This final problem has similarities to the operation of multistage rocket. (Wikipedia).
