Answer to Puzzle Contest (from the winner):
"4 weights, 14lb, 7lb, 3lb, 1lb
Here is the table:
L R
1 1
2,1 3
3 3
4 3,1
5,3 7,1
6,1 7
7 7
8 7,1
9,1 7,3
10 7,3
11 7,3,1
12,3 14,1
13,1 14
14 14
15 14,1
16,1 14,3
17 14,3
18 14,3,1
19,3 14,7,1
20,1 14,7
21 14,7
22 14,7,1
23,1 14,7,3
24 14,7,3
25 14,7,3,1"
Other accepted answers include: 1, 3, 9, 12 pounds, 1, 3, 8, 25 pounds, and 1, 3, 9, 27 pounds (which according to multiple people can weigh anything up to 40 pounds with the scale). People have sent me charts, graphs, formulas, & more (but no cookies or donuts - dang!). Shirley Wolf noted: "There are dozens of ways to balance objects weighing from 1 to 25 pounds, in 1-pound increments, using just
four weights. I have so far found 58 ways of doing
this, and there are more."
Winner: Kevin Lombardo
Contest Statistics: 10 answers submitted, 9 answers correct, 90.00% accuracy. Chance of a correct answer winning: 11.11%.