Imagine you are in a room with 3 switches. In an adjacent room there are 3 bulbs (all are off at the moment), each switch belongs to one bulb. It is impossible to see from one room to another. How can you find out which switch belongs to which bulb, if you may enter the room with the bulbs only once?
2006-11-11 03:55:54 · 14 answers · asked by msdrosi 3 in Entertainment & Music ➔ Jokes & Riddles
Mr. Luay19: Very original answer ;-) but you cannot take anything into the room, you must go in alone.
Tammy: Congratulations, you were the first to get it right ;-) here are your 10 pts....
Short&Cute: I know the answer, I just asked for fun...
Thanks to all for answering ;-)
2006-11-11 04:29:08 · update #1
You have to turn one light on for a while so that it'll warm up, turn it off and then turn another light on. then you can go into the room and feel the two unlit bulbs - whichever one is warm is the first one. The lit bulb is the second and the cold bulb is the third
=)
2006-11-11 04:01:31 · answer #1 · answered by §èxÿtà mmý ® 5 · 8⤊ 1⤋
Keep the first bulb switched on for a few minutes. It will get warm. So all you have to do then is ... switch it off, switch another one on, walk into the room with the bulbs, touch them and tell which one was switched on as the first one (the warm one) and the others can be easily identified ...
2006-11-11 04:04:54 · answer #2 · answered by pokerpro152 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Matt already solved the riddle, I just wanted to weigh in on your response to him. I disagree that mathematical truths such as 2+2=4 are poseteriori propostions. Statements about mathematical truths are apriori propostions. Moreover the statement 2+2=4 is true in all possible worlds. See set theory. Edit: Said, thank you for your candid and knowlegable reply. You are absolutely right there is no consensus among philosophers about the necessary truth of mathematical propositions. Me and you differ in that I happen to hold the third view. I think mathematical truths such as 2+2-4 are in fact analytic, a priori, and necessary in all possible worlds. Why? Well because of set theory. When I say 2+2=4 I`m not merely suggesting that things that 2 things plus 2 things combine additively to equal 4 things. I`m saying that 2+2=4 cannot fail to be true in all possible worlds. You said that you do not hold the third view because if we do not exist then how can it influence us. Seemed like you were suggesting that mathematical truths are contigent upon people. E.G. Mt. saint helen is 10,000 ft tall (I dont know the actual height) is true whether or not we human beings perceive it to be or not. Even if we did not exist, Mt. saint helen would still be 10,000 ft tall. Therefore mathematical truths are necessary (contigent upon nothing, i.e. humans) In a world devoid of all material matter the statement alone 2+2 would still equal 4, therefore mathematical truths are analytic - i.e. true by the viture of their meaning alone, and `a prior` justification is independent of experience. Granted, set theory is apart of mathematics but it is used quite frequently in philosophical arguments proporting the necessary truth of mathematical propostions. E.g. You may be caught in the mind frame that 2+2-4 always suggest that things of the same set combine addivitely i.e. 2 apples and 2 fruits equals 4 peices of fruit. But what happens when we combine things from opposing sets? i.e. We put 2 cubes of sugar in 1 coffe cup? Does this still equal 3? Nothing combines addivetly, but we get a new set which equals three the set of coffe/sugar. I cant solve this puzzle in one statement. But I think that since the first was solved by a tatutology (statement that is always true) then the second would be solved by a contradiction (statement that is always false. Sorry I tried but I`m not smart enough to do it.
2016-05-22 05:18:16 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Turn on one switch..... Wait a few minutes... turn off that switch... turn on another... Enter the room... The bulb that is lit belongs to the switch that is on.. feel the two unlit bulbs.. the bulb that is warm belongs to the first switch you turned on .. the bulb that is cool belongs to the switch you never touched...
2006-11-11 04:03:45 · answer #4 · answered by Diane (PFLAG) 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I would go into the room with the bulbs ... take the bulbs of, and connect the wires of each bulb to a stereo... this way I will have 3 stereos, each one has a certain song ... and I know each song is for which wire ... so I go back to the room with the switches , and try them one by one .. this way I will know
2006-11-11 04:00:56 · answer #5 · answered by Luay14 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
av ur friend go into the room wth the switches and turn the switches on 1 at a time
2006-11-11 05:34:31 · answer #6 · answered by Tallie 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
flip 2 switches at once
2006-11-11 04:03:46 · answer #7 · answered by Dianna 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Why bother You already said Tamy got it. I'm seeing that guy answer questions everywhere.
2006-11-11 05:21:49 · answer #8 · answered by mistery person 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I agree with tammy, only because I heard this before and that is the answer.
2006-11-11 04:03:15 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
feel it in the dark
2006-11-11 04:02:29 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋