Question:
There are 5 lanes on a race track and there are 25 horses. You need to determine the 3 fastest horses by conducting races. Find out the minimum number of races that need to be conducted in order to do that.
Solution: 7 Races
The approach entails conducting 5 races where each race group would involve 5 horses. In the ensuing step, a sixth race is conducted between winners of the first 5 races to determine the 3 fastest horses (marked A1, B1, A=and C1). The seventh race is conducted between horses B1, C1, second and third horse from the horse A1’s group (A2, A3), the second horse from horse B1’s group (B2). The horses that finish 1st and 2nd in the seventh race, are actually the 2nd and the 3rd fastest horses among all horses.
