Question
A light bulb is hanging in a room. Outside of the room there are three sitches, of which only one is connected to the lamp. In the starting situation, all switches are 'off' and the bulb is not lit. If it is allowed to check in the room only once to see if the bulb is lit or not(this is not visible from the outside), how can you determine with which of the three switches the light bulb can be switched on?
Answer
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To find the correct switch(1,2, or 3), turn switch 1 to 'on' and leave it like that for a few minutes. After that you turn switch 1 back to 'off', and turn switch 2 to 'on'. Now enter the room. If the light bulb is lit, then you know that switch 2 is connected to it. If the bulb is not lit, then it has to be switch 1 or 3. Now touching for short the light bulb, will give you the answer: If the bulb is still hot, then swith 1 was the correct one; if the bulb is cold, then it has to be switch 3.
A light bulb is hanging in a room. Outside of the room there are three sitches, of which only one is connected to the lamp. In the starting situation, all switches are 'off' and the bulb is not lit. If it is allowed to check in the room only once to see if the bulb is lit or not(this is not visible from the outside), how can you determine with which of the three switches the light bulb can be switched on?
Answer
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
To find the correct switch(1,2, or 3), turn switch 1 to 'on' and leave it like that for a few minutes. After that you turn switch 1 back to 'off', and turn switch 2 to 'on'. Now enter the room. If the light bulb is lit, then you know that switch 2 is connected to it. If the bulb is not lit, then it has to be switch 1 or 3. Now touching for short the light bulb, will give you the answer: If the bulb is still hot, then swith 1 was the correct one; if the bulb is cold, then it has to be switch 3.