Given three bowls: 8, 5 and 3 liters capacity, divide 8 liters in half (4 + 4 liters) with the minimum number of water transfers. Note that the 8-liter bowl is initially filled with 8 liters of water and the other two bowls are empty – that is all water you have.

Answer

1. Pour 5 litres from the 8-litre to the 5-litre bowl,
2. Pour 3 litres from the 5-litre to the 3-litre bowl,
3. Pour these 3 litres back to the 8-litre bowl,
4. Pour the remaining 2 litres from the 5-litre to the 3-litre bowl,
5. Pour 5 litres from the 8-litre to the 5-litre bowl,
6. Pour the missing 1 litre from the 5-litre to the 3-litre bowl (there should be 4 litres left in the 5-litre bowl),
7. Pour the 3 litres back from the 3-litre to the 8-litre bowl (and that’s it – in 8-litre bowl 4 litres).