Friday puzzler--triangle of coins
Alex Y
Six coins are arranged in a triangle as follows:
__O
_O_O
O_O_O
(Ignore the underscores--for spacing only. The coins actually touch.)
In as few moves as possible, move them to this pattern:
_O_O
O___O
_O_O
Easy with just two moves, until we put the following restriction on the moves:
Each move consists of sliding a coin without disturbing another coin, to a position where it is touching two other coins.
With that restriction, how many moves does it take?
For reporting solutions, use the numbering of the coins as
__1
_2_3
4_5_6