QOD #16
Mr. Roger Klausler is in the process of finding new TA's for SSP'96 after the three TA's from SSP'95 had to be shipped back, blabbering nonsense, to their respective new (institutional) homes in small cages. One of the minimal requirements of being a TA is the ability to solve the following problem. Incidentally, legend also holds that computer science majors are incapable of solving the problem while others, say physics majors, find the problem a breeze.
The problem is as follows.
You are taken into a room with three switches that turn three lightbulbs that are on a table in another rooom on an off. Each switch connects to only one light, and the switches are labelled "on" and "off." While you are using the switches, there is no way for you to see the lightbulbs in the other room, and vice versa. Your task is to figure out which switch goes to which lightbulb. You get only one try; that is, after you've played with the switches, you are then taken into the room with the lightbulbs. You are not allowed to return to the previous room (with the switches.) All the information you need is in here. Can you figure out how to solve the problem?
Solution and comments
