Figure 1. Tower of Hanoi Puzzle

Count the number of moves required to duplicate the exact arrangement of disks on the first tower and the last tower.

Rules: Only move one disk at a time. You may never place a larger disk on top of a smaller disk.

Hint: Sketch out your strategy versus trying to walk through the steps in your head.

Possible answers: 5, 7, 9 or 11 moves

Most blog posts don’t open with an assignment for the reader. Why have I chosen to do so? And do you even care why, or are you hoping that in the next few lines I will reveal the correct answer? Chances are, if you actually tried out the puzzle above, you want to know the sol…