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P _ _ N D S Clue
THE WHOLE CEMENT BLOCK WEIGHS 3 POUNDS. ONE QUARTER OF THE CEMENT BLOCK WEIGHS THREE QUARTERS OF A POUND. SO, THE THE WHOLE BLOCK WOULD WEIGH (3⁄4 X 4) 3 POUNDS SPLIT THE BALLS INTO 3 GROUPS WITH 3 BALLS EACH. PICK 2 GROUPS AND USE SCALE TO DETERMINE WHICH GROUP CONTAINS THE HEAVY BALL. ONCE THE GROUP IS DETERMINED, PICK 2 BALLS AND USE THE SCALE. IF THEY ARE EQUAL, THE OTHER BALL IS THE HEAVY ONE THE MINIMUM NUMBER OF WEIGHTS REQUIRED IS FIVE AND THESE SHOULD WEIGHT 1, 3, 9, 27 AND 81 POUNDS. THE MERCHANT HAS TO USE A BALANCE WEIGHING SCALE TO DO THE JOB. TO WEIGH 2 POUNDS, HE'LL HAVE TO PUT THE 3 POUND WEIGHT ON ONE PAN AND 1 POUND WEIGHT ON THE OTHER PAN. TO WEIGH 5 POUNDS, HE'LL HAVE TO PUT THE 9 POUND WEIGHT ON ONE PAN AND 1 AND 3 POUND WEIGHTS ON THE OTHER PAN 3 POUNDS. SINCE 1⁄4 CAKE WEIGHS 3⁄4 POUND, AN ENTIRE CAKE WEIGHS 3 POUNDS