Problem bank

Problem 253 of 333MediumBrainteaserP253

Poisoned wine and the rats

  1. A king has 1000 bottles of wine and exactly one is poisoned. A rat that drinks even a drop of the poisoned wine dies at some point within 24 hours, and you cannot predict when. The party is in 24 hours. What is the fewest rats needed to identify the poisoned bottle in time? How does the answer change if the party is in 48 hours?