Six kids, Joe, Kay, Jim, Bob, Rae, and Kim, play a variation of hide and seek. The
Question:
Six kids, Joe, Kay, Jim, Bob, Rae, and Kim, play a variation of hide and seek. The hiding place of a child is known only to a select few of the other children. A child is then paired with another with the objective of finding the partner’s hiding place. This may be achieved through a chain of other kids who eventually will lead to discovering where the designated child is hiding. For example, suppose that Joe needs to find Kim and that Joe knows where Jim is hiding, who in turn knows where Kim is. Thus, Joe can find Kim by first finding Jim, who in turn will lead Joe to Kim. The following list provides the whereabouts of the children: Joe knows the hiding places of Bob and Kim. Kay knows the hiding places of Bob, Jim, and Rae. Jim and Bob each know the hiding place of Kay only. Rae knows where Kim is hiding. Kim knows where Joe and Bob are hiding. Devise a plan for each child to find every other child using the smallest number of contacts. What is the largest number of contacts made by any child?
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