Question 9
In a computer game, a maze is illustrated as a grid, where some cells are painted in grey. The grey cells indicate where traps have been placed and the white cells indicate safe cells. A jumping man named Jay is standing on a white cell, which is indicated as “J”. Jay may jump from one white cell to another white cell. However, he may only jump horizontally or vertically. He can jump over a sequence of grey cells, but he cannot jump over another white cell (and he cannot land on a grey cell).
For example, as shown in the diagram on the right, if Jay stands on the white cell in the top right corner, he may jump four cells to the left or he may jump two cells down, but he cannot jump three cells down. Also, if he wants to get to any other white cell, he would need to make additional jumps.
In the following maze, Jay begins on the white cell marked with “J”. What is the minimum number of jumps he needs to do to be sure that any other white cell can be reached when jumping from this starting position?
For example, as shown in the diagram on the right, if Jay stands on the white cell in the top right corner, he may jump four cells to the left or he may jump two cells down, but he cannot jump three cells down. Also, if he wants to get to any other white cell, he would need to make additional jumps.
In the following maze, Jay begins on the white cell marked with “J”. What is the minimum number of jumps he needs to do to be sure that any other white cell can be reached when jumping from this starting position?