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| Kralik |
 Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 8:47 pm |
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Joined: 01 Dec 2007
Posts: 223
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I thought it might be worth resurrecting an old idea and having a riddle game thread. Anyone can answer a riddle / post a new one. Here’s mine:
You are standing in a hallway. Down a staircase, around a corner, down another hallway, and around another corner is an average bedroom. The hallway has three light switches. One of them controls the light bulb in the bedroom, but you have no idea which one. Furthermore, due to the layout of the house, you CANNOT see if/when the light is on in the bedroom from the hall switches.
What is the minimum number of trips you must take to the bedroom to find out which switch controls the light? How would you do it?
Don’t say three.  |
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| Elessar's Socks |
| Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 9:10 pm |
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Joined: 29 Jul 2007
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Do you know if the light is off to begin with? Offhand I’d say two because you can flip two switches, and if the light remains off you’d know it’s the third switch. If the light is on then you can flip one of the original two again and go back to check. If the light remains on you’d know it’s the other switch; otherwise if it’s off the correct switch is the one you just flipped.
If you don’t know if the light is originally on/off I think you’d need a third trip. |
| Last edited by Elessar's Socks on Tue Mar 11, 2008 9:18 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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| MR. Lurtzy |
| Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 9:12 pm |
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Joined: 30 May 2007
Posts: 423
Location: Living with the Governator
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| Well, if you knew the house, then 0. But 2 because if you don’t get it turned on by those 2, then it’s the 3rd. |
'On and on old war shall go,
Without respite my blood will flow
O’er your eyes ‘til they cannot see
The impossibility of victory.'
MR. Lurtzy's Have/Wants |
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| Elessar's Socks |
| Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 9:17 pm |
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Joined: 29 Jul 2007
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*LOL!* Ah, Lurtzy’s method is so much simpler. Unless you can do it in one.  |
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| Anonymous Prodigy |
| Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 9:25 pm |
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Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 4197
Location: United States
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| Is the light bulb functional, or has it burned out? |
| I had to put something here. |
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| Kralik |
| Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 9:25 pm |
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Joined: 01 Dec 2007
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Not sure what you mean about knowing the house... the point of the riddle is that you do NOT know what does what.
So let’s say that all the light switches are in the down position and the light is off to begin with. To avoid having you walk down a hallway in the dark, let’s say that both the hallways and the room have nice natural lighting (windows, etc). Since you both have already guessed the easy answer of two, the real question becomes:
How could you do it in one trip?  |
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| Kralik |
| Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 9:26 pm |
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Anonymous Prodigy wrote: Is the light bulb functional, or has it burned out?
Functional. |
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| Pippin |
| Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 9:29 pm |
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Joined: 04 Aug 2006
Posts: 268
Location: Colorado
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| Kralik |
| Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 9:29 pm |
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Joined: 01 Dec 2007
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Pippin wrote: A lucky guess?
Logic? |
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| MR. Lurtzy |
| Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 9:53 pm |
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Joined: 30 May 2007
Posts: 423
Location: Living with the Governator
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| hmm, dificult. I would have to say turn on 2 at the same time, but then if it is turned on, you wouldn’t know which one? I don’t know how to do this in one if my proposal isn’t correct. |
Last edited by MR. Lurtzy on Tue Mar 11, 2008 9:58 pm; edited 1 time in total'On and on old war shall go,
Without respite my blood will flow
O’er your eyes ‘til they cannot see
The impossibility of victory.'
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