Posted: 6/27/2002 5:52:26 AM EDT
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This is a brain teaser I thought you might enjoy: "Frank" is a skilled but lazy electrician. He has just wired three on-off switches to three separate lights, all of which are upstairs so he cannot see them. He wants to check which switch operates which light, but wants to do this by operating the switches once then making only one trip upstairs. How does he do this? I check back later to give the answer. Kent |
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Any skilled electrician that did the wiring, would no witch switch was running to witch light. The only thing he would need to go upstairs for would be to check and see if all the lights were on. Long stretch I know, but it's the best I can come up with right now. |
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He turns two switches on. After several minutes, he turns one of them off and leaves the other one on. He immediately goes upstairs. The light that is on belongs to the switch that is still on. He feels the other two bulbs. The bulb that is warm belongs to the switch that was just turned off. The bulb that is cold belongs to the switch that was always off. I'm not sure if that really saves him any work, but it sounds like something a lazy man might do. |
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I haven't heard this one before, but I think I've got it. Each switch has one position, so set the first one to on and the second switch to off. As for the third one, I'd turn it on for a minute or so and then when I went upstairs I'd check which one of the off bulbs is hot. That may not be the answer, but it would work in one trip. Remember the Alamo, and God Bless Texas... |
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I am certain the warm lightbulb procedure is what he's looking for. However, I have an alternative... He turns light switch one on and then walks outside to look through the upstairs window... Repeats for switches two and three... Lazy electician. Needs to stop eating donuts and get on a stair-stepper! |
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Boston Tea Party and God Bless Texas get the grand prize for being the first to get it. Torf gets the sticky silver star for recognizing the correct answer with the logic spelled out. I did like some of the other responses too, but they where not quite what I was looking for. I believe the electrician's helper suggestion is what happens in real life. That would be dissapator's helper not Nova 5's. Thanks for playing. I'll give you more as I get them. Kent |
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Quoted: Actually I think Boston got it. Although you would be a moron to put switches to lights on the floor the lights are not even located on. 1) I can turn on my basement light from upstairs, so that it is on when I walk down there. 2) My uncle's house has a panel in every room that can switch on/off any outlet in the house. Useful if one wishes to turn on the sound system, or perhaps to backlight a burglar (instead of walking around with a "here I am, target me!" flashlight). |