A balance puzzle is a

mathematical puzzle Mathematical puzzles make up an integral part of recreational mathematics. They have specific rules, but they do not usually involve competition between two or more players. Instead, to solve such a puzzle, the solver must find a solution that sati ...

which challenges the solver to distribute a subset of numbers so that the several sides of a stylized diagram representing a

balance scale A scale or balance is a device used to measure weight or mass. These are also known as mass scales, weight scales, mass balances, and weight balances. The traditional scale consists of two plates or bowls suspended at equal distances from a ...

are equal. The balance puzzle is a classical number puzzle in the

World Puzzle Championship The World Puzzle Championship (commonly abbreviated as WPC) is an annual international puzzle competition run by the World Puzzle Federation. All the puzzles in the competition are pure-logic problems based on simple principles, designed to be play ...

. It consists of a mobile or tree structure, with designated positions where the player must hang specified weights, so that everything balances. See examples below. There are usually 8 to 12 consecutive numbers (weights) to place, which makes it much smaller than, for example,

sudoku Sudoku (; ja, 数独, sūdoku, digit-single; originally called Number Place) is a logic-based, combinatorial number-placement puzzle. In classic Sudoku, the objective is to fill a 9 × 9 grid with digits so that each column, each row ...

. As in many mathematical puzzles, the solution is unique. Expert puzzlers often prefer puzzles where the rules explicitly states that there is only one solution. This property allows for some reasoning strategies. It also makes generating puzzles a bit more difficult.

Examples

Weight Puzzles
*

Variants

* Balloon balance: same puzzle but with negatives weights also to be placed
example
Puzzles {{puzzle-game-stub