Tue
Oct
20
Tuesday Teaser #6
A military general has 100 prisoners. Feeling generous, he offers them an opportunity to win their freedom. The next day, he’ll line up the prisoners, all facing forward, and will put either a black or a white hat on each prisoner. The prisoners can only see the colors of the hats in front of them. Then, in any order they want, each one will guess the color of the hat on their head. If they guess wrong, they’ll be executed and if they guess correctly, they’ll be set free. Other than that, the prisoners will not be allowed to speak.
Having explained the situation, the general tells the prisoners that they will be able to collaborate on a strategy that evening. What strategy will allow the highest number of prisoners to be saved?
