Dining Philosophers

Five philosophers sit around a circular table. Each philosopher spends his life alternatively thinking and eating. In the centre of the table is a large plate of noodles. A philosopher needs two chopsticks to eat a helping of noodles. Unfortunately, as philosophy is not as well paid as computing, the philosophers can only afford five chopsticks. One chopstick is placed between each pair of philosophers and they agree that each will only use the chopstick to his immediate right and left. The slider in the applet below controls the amount of time that a philosopher spends eating and thinking. Philosophers are depicted in yellow when they are thinking, blue when hungry and green when eating.