The Fish Riddle: Can You Save an Endangered Species?

Imagine yourself as the cargo director on the S.S. Buoyant's first voyage. Your mission: to safely transport the last of a critically endangered fish species to their new home at the aquarium. But disaster strikes! A fierce storm throws the precious cargo overboard into shark-infested waters. Can you figure out how to rescue the fish before it's too late?

The Perilous Predicament

The situation is dire. You have a rescue sub, but only enough fuel for one trip to the ocean floor. You need to locate all the missing tanks quickly, as no fish can be lost. Scanning the ocean floor reveals three sectors where the cargo might have landed. Thermal imaging detects 50 organisms in total – a mix of your precious fish and hungry sharks.

Sonar provides a clearer picture, but it's malfunctioning. Here's what you manage to gather:

• Sector Alpha: Four tanks, two sharks.
• Sector Beta: Two tanks, four sharks.
• Sector Gamma: Blank image (malfunction!).

Adding to the challenge, shipping notes reveal:

• Each tank contains the same number of fish.
• The cargo hold could accommodate between 1 and 13 tanks.
• The area has a peculiar property: no two sectors have the same number of sharks, but each sector has at least one and no more than seven sharks.

Time is running out! The tanks won't withstand the pressure much longer. The question is: How many fish tanks do you need to find in Sector Gamma?

Cracking the Code: Solving the Riddle

At first glance, it seems impossible. There are so many unknowns: the number of fish, the number of tanks, and the number of fish per tank. But by organizing the information strategically, a solution emerges.

The Power of Organization

The key is to use a table to compare the partial information. We know:

• There are a maximum of 13 tanks.
• Six tanks are already accounted for in Sectors Alpha and Beta.
• Therefore, the total number of tanks must be between 6 and 13.
• Each sector has a different number of sharks, ranging from 1 to 7.
• Sectors Alpha and Beta have two and four sharks, respectively.
• This means Sector Gamma can have 1, 3, 5, 6, or 7 sharks.

Calculating the Fish

Out of the 50 total organisms, at least seven are sharks, leaving a maximum of 43 fish. The more sharks in Sector Gamma, the fewer fish there are to save. The crucial piece of information is that the fish are equally distributed across all the tanks. This means the total number of fish must be divisible by the total number of tanks.

The Solution

By analyzing the possible combinations, we find that the only one that works is:

• 39 fish divided between 13 tanks
• This means there are three fish in each tank.

Since Sectors Alpha and Beta contain six tanks in total, Sector Gamma must contain the remaining seven tanks.

Mission Accomplished

Navigating through shark-infested waters, you retrieve the seven tanks from Sector Gamma. You've successfully saved the endangered species and enjoyed an unexpected dive. Not a bad day's work, unless you're a hungry shark!