
Problem Statement
In this problem, you are initially given numBottles
, which are entirely full of water. There exists a system where you can exchange numExchange
empty water bottles to receive one full bottle in return. After consuming a full bottle, it becomes empty. Using these rules, you need to determine the maximum number of water bottles you can consume. You start with the numBottles
and continue drinking and exchanging as long as possible under the given constraints of numExchange
.
Examples
Example 1
Input:
numBottles = 9, numExchange = 3
Output:
13
Explanation:
You can exchange 3 empty bottles to get 1 full water bottle. Number of water bottles you can drink: 9 + 3 + 1 = 13.
Example 2
Input:
numBottles = 15, numExchange = 4
Output:
19
Explanation:
You can exchange 4 empty bottles to get 1 full water bottle. Number of water bottles you can drink: 15 + 3 + 1 = 19.
Constraints
1 <= numBottles <= 100
2 <= numExchange <= 100
Approach and Intuition
- Start with the initial number of full bottles (
numBottles
). - Continue the process of drinking from these bottles, turning them into empties, and then exchanging a specific number (
numExchange
) of empty bottles to get a new full bottle. - Implement this logic:
- Drink from all available full bottles and tally these as drunk bottles.
- See how many new bottles can be gained by exchanging the empty ones.
- If the empties are not enough to exchange for at least one bottle, the loop stops.
- Otherwise, obtain the new bottles, add to your count, and repeat the procedure.
- This process will maximize the number of bottles you drink until you cannot exchange the empties for a new full bottle anymore, effectively squeezing the most utility from the given resource limits.
Example realizations from the provided scenarios illustrate this principle:
- For
numBottles = 9, numExchange = 3
: Starting with 9 bottles, after consuming them, you get 9 empties. Exchange these for 3 new bottles, drink them to get 3 more empties, and finally exchange these for 1 more bottle. Total drunk bottles tally to 13. - For
numBottles = 15, numExchange = 4
: Starting with 15 bottles, after consuming them, you collect 15 empty bottles. These can be exchanged for 3 new bottles (12 empties needed, leave 3 behind). Drink the 3 new bottles and combine remainders to get 1 more. The total tally here comes to 19.
Solutions
- C++
class Solution {
public:
int calculateTotalDrinks(int initialBottles, int exchangeRate) {
int totalDrank = 0;
while (initialBottles >= exchangeRate) {
int newBottles = initialBottles / exchangeRate;
totalDrank += exchangeRate * newBottles;
initialBottles -= exchangeRate * newBottles;
initialBottles += newBottles;
}
return totalDrank + initialBottles;
}
};
In this solution, you effectively tackle the problem of calculating the total number of water bottles one can drink given an initial number of bottles and an exchange rate for empty bottles. The process involves repeatedly exchanging empty bottles for new ones until you cannot meet the exchange rate requirement. Here’s a breakdown of the implemented C++ solution:
- Start with a function
calculateTotalDrinks
, which acceptsinitialBottles
andexchangeRate
as parameters. - Initialize a counter,
totalDrank
, to zero. This counter will accumulate the count of bottles drank. - Use a loop to simulate drinking and exchanging bottles:
- Calculate the number of new bottles you can get by dividing
initialBottles
byexchangeRate
. - Increase
totalDrank
by the number of bottles consumed, which is the product of the exchange rate and the new bottles gained. - Decrease
initialBottles
by the same number (the empty bottles handed in for exchange). - Increment
initialBottles
by the number of new full bottles obtained through the exchange.
- Calculate the number of new bottles you can get by dividing
- Exit the loop when
initialBottles
is less than theexchangeRate
, implying no further exchanges can be made. - Add any remaining
initialBottles
that couldn’t be exchanged tototalDrank
. - Return the value of
totalDrank
, which now represents the total bottles consumed, including those that were drunk directly and those obtained through exchange.
This method ensures all possible bottles to be consumed are accounted for, given the limitations set by the exchange rate.
- Java
class Solution {
public int calculateDrinks(int totalBottles, int exchangeRate) {
int totalConsumed = 0;
while (totalBottles >= exchangeRate) {
int newBottles = totalBottles / exchangeRate;
totalConsumed += exchangeRate * newBottles;
totalBottles -= exchangeRate * newBottles;
totalBottles += newBottles;
}
return totalConsumed + totalBottles;
}
}
The solution provided tackles the problem of determining the maximum number of drinks one can consume given a certain number of water bottles and an exchange rate for how many empty bottles can be traded for a new bottle. This is implemented in Java.
The method calculateDrinks
accepts two parameters:
totalBottles
, representing the initial number of full water bottles available.exchangeRate
, indicating how many empty bottles are needed to obtain a new full bottle.
Here is a step-by-step breakdown of the method:
Initialize
totalConsumed
to 0. This variable will accumulate the total number of drinks consumed.Enter a loop that continues as long as
totalBottles
is greater than or equal to theexchangeRate
. This loop is crucial as it simulates the continuous process of consuming bottles and then exchanging the empties for new bottles.Within the loop:
- Calculate
newBottles
, which is the number of new bottles you can get by dividingtotalBottles
byexchangeRate
. - Increase
totalConsumed
by the number of bottles consumed in this cycle, which would beexchangeRate * newBottles
. - Reduce
totalBottles
by the same number, essentially simulating that these bottles have been consumed and cannot be reused as full bottles. - Add the
newBottles
tototalBottles
, representing the new bottles obtained from exchanging the empty ones.
- Calculate
Eventually, when
totalBottles
is less thanexchangeRate
, exit the loop. At this point, add the remainingtotalBottles
tototalConsumed
.Return
totalConsumed + totalBottles
as the result. This gives the total number of bottles consumed, including those that can't be exchanged anymore.
This solution effectively calculates the maximum consumption of water bottles based on an exchange system, ensuring that every possible bottle, either initially full or obtained through exchange, is accounted for in the total consumption.
- Python
class Solution:
def calculateDrinks(self, bottles: int, exchange: int) -> int:
total_drinks = 0
while bottles >= exchange:
full_exchanges = bottles // exchange
total_drinks += exchange * full_exchanges
bottles -= exchange * full_exchanges
bottles += full_exchanges
return total_drinks + bottles
This Python solution addresses the problem of determining how many total drinks one can have given an initial number of water bottles and an ability to exchange a set number of empty bottles for a new one. The calculateDrinks
function efficiently computes this by continually trading in empty bottles for full ones until no further trades can be made.
- Initialize
total_drinks
to zero. This variable will keep count of all the drinks you can have. - Use a
while
loop to perform the exchange as long as the number of bottles you have is greater than or equal to the number required for an exchange. - Inside the loop, calculate
full_exchanges
, which represents the number of full bottles you can get by exchanging empty ones. - Increase
total_drinks
by the number of bottles consumed, which at each step isexchange * full_exchanges
. - Decrease the count of bottles by the same number, since they are exchanged for new ones.
- Add back the full bottles received from the exchange to have them available in the next iteration.
When no more exchanges can be performed, add the remaining bottles to the total drinks since these can also be consumed, and return total_drinks + bottles
as the final result. This solution ensures that all bottles, whether exchanged or not, are accounted for.
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