Propositiones ad Acuendos Juvenes/Problems/18 - De Lupo et Capra et Fasciculo Cauli

by : Problem $18$

 * De Lupo et Capra et Fasciculo Cauli: A Wolf, a Goat and a Bunch of Cabbages
 * A man takes a wolf, a goat and a bunch of cabbages across the river.
 * The only boat he could find could take only two of them at a time.
 * But he had been ordered to transfer all of these to the other side in good condition.
 * How could this be done?

Solution
The constraints here are that:


 * $(1): \quad$ The wolf, if left alone with the goat, would eat it, so these two may not be left alone together.
 * $(2): \quad$ The goat, if left alone with the bunch of cabbages, would eat it, so these two may not be left alone together.

Let $M$, $W$, $G$ and $C$ denote the man, wolf, goat and cabbages respectively.

Let them be crossing from $A$ to $B$.

As follows:

Also presented as
The objects being transported can be seen presented in various ways, for example:
 * fox, duck and grain
 * African leopard, goat and cassava leaves

and so on.

$4$ or more objects may be transported in this way, each being incompatible with its two neighbours, but in this case one of the objects needs to be able to row.