PREFACE SCHOOL PROGRAMS / PROGRAMAS FOR THE PUBLIC ANCIENT COUNTING METHOD PRIME NUMBER NUMERAL SYSTEM GOLDEN RATIO PROBABILITY WEIGHTS AND MEASUREMENTS SEQUENCE AND SERIES GEOMETRIC FIGURE FOOTBALL SYMMETRY FRACTAL EASTERN MATHEMATICIANS WESTERN MATHEMATICIANS CRYPTOLOGY MATHEMATICS AND ARCHITECTURE MATHEMATICS AND NATURE MATHEMATICS AND FINE ARTS PROTRACTOR TOWER OF HANOI ZHUSUAN AND ABACUS

TOWER OF HANOI

Tower of Hanoi is a mathematical game introduced by the French mathematician, Edouard Lucas, in 1883. It is said he was inspired by a legend pertaining to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple, situated at the centre of the universe. According to the tale, there were three wooden posts in the Temple. On top of one post, 64 golden disks were stacked up according to their sizes, with the smallest one on the top and the biggest at its base. Brahmin priests, acting out the command of the ancient prophecy, had to move these disks in accordance with the strict rules of Brahma. Each time only one disk could be moved, and a smaller disk should be placed on top of a bigger disk. If all the steps were correct, the priests should be able to complete their mission by moving the disks for 2⁶⁴ -1 times.

Interactive Game

Try playing the simulated Tower of Hanoi. While you are playing, don't forget to follow the rules: the smaller disks should be placed on top of the bigger disks and only one disk can be moved at a time.

Did you know?

If the priests were able to move one disk per second, they would need 584.9 billion years to move all the 64 diskes. However, our universe is only 13.8 billion years.