Problem:

When dealing with liquid volumes, whether for cooking, scientific experiments, or other purposes, it’s essential to calculate how many containers are needed to hold a given amount of liquid. In this blog post, we’ll tackle a coding challenge that not only determines the number of containers required but also minimizes the total number of containers used.

Challenge Description

The objective is to create a Python program that prompts the user to enter a total volume in liters. The program will then calculate how many containers of different sizes are needed to accommodate that volume while minimizing the total number of containers used. The container types we will consider are:

  • 10-Liter Container
  • 5-Liter Container
  • 2-Liter Bottle
  • 1-Liter Bottle

If the user enters a total volume less than or equal to zero, the program will notify them that there is “No volume.” Otherwise, it will compute the number of each type of container required and display the results.

Solution Breakdown

Let’s break down the solution step-by-step.

  1. Get User Input: Start by asking the user to input the total volume in liters.
  2. Check Input Validity: If the input volume is less than or equal to zero, inform the user and exit.
  3. Define Container Types: Create a dictionary that holds the container sizes (in liters) and their corresponding names.
  4. Calculate Container Count: Loop through the container sizes, determine how many of each can fit into the remaining volume, and update the total volume accordingly.
  5. Display Results: Finally, print out how many of each type of container is needed.

Python Code Implementation

Here’s how you can implement this solution in Python:

# Get the total volume in liters from the user
total_volume = float(input("Enter the total volume in liters: "))

if total_volume <= 0:
    print("No volume")
else:
    # Define the types of containers and their respective volumes in liters
    container_types = {
        10: "10-Liter Container",  # 10 liters
        5: "5-Liter Container",     # 5 liters
        2: "2-Liter Container",     # 5 liters
        1: "1-Liter Bottle",        # 1 liter
    }

    # Initialize a dictionary to store the count of each container type
    container_count = {container: 0 for container in container_types.values()}

    # Calculate the number of each container type needed
    for volume, container in container_types.items():
        if total_volume >= volume:
            container_count[container] = int(total_volume // volume)  # Count how many of each container can fit
            total_volume %= volume                                   # Update the remaining volume

    # Print the result
    for container, count in container_count.items():
        if count > 0:
            print(f"{count} {container}{'s' if count > 1 else ''}")

Code Explanation

  • User Input: The program starts by obtaining the total volume from the user with input().
  • Input Validation: An if statement checks if the volume is less than or equal to zero, prompting a message if so.
  • Container Definition: A dictionary container_types defines the container sizes and their names.
  • Counting Containers: A loop iterates through the container sizes, calculating how many can fit into the remaining volume. It updates both the count and the volume as it goes.
  • Output: Finally, it prints the number of each type of container needed, with appropriate pluralization for counts greater than one.

Conclusion

This challenge is an excellent opportunity to practice using conditionals, loops, and data structures in Python. By framing the problem with the goal of minimizing container use, we emphasize efficient resource management, a valuable skill in real-world applications. The solution provided not only fulfills the task but does so effectively, ensuring that the least number of containers are used.