1999 Oral #6: Sorting Using Blocks
Source:
October 20, 2012
Problem Statement
You want to sort the numbers 5 4 3 2 1 using block moves. In other words, you can take any set of numbers that appear consecutively and put them back in at any spot as a block. For example, 6 5 3 4 2 1 -> 4 2 6 5 3 1 is a valid block move for 6 numbers. What is the minimum number of block moves necessary to get 1 2 3 4 5?