Light switches (in Contests)

You stand in the cellar of a new house. In front of you is a fixture that contains three light switches.

This fixture is is wired to a single light bulb in the houses loft, but only one of the three switches is connected to the bulb. The light is currently off.

With only one trip up to the loft to check, how can you find out which switch out of the three is connected to the bulb?

(You cannot see the loft entrance, or any light that might be emmited from the bulb at your current location. It's a week bulb. Only by using your one trip up into the loft can you find out if the light is on or not.)

Prize is 25K.

send someone else in to check? :p

can't figure out the riddle, or why a light bulb would only last a week. that's cheap crap if you ask me.

LOL! I thought I'd put enough rules in.

You are the only person in the house. The light is too weak to be seen from outside the house. You have to travel up to the loft to check. And only you can do that!

:P

cellar? loft?

what are they, and where in houses?

>_< Weak bulb... Doh! ;)

*sigh* I contemplated using Americanisms! Basement and Attic to you guys! :P

thank you! you could of spoken English!

you could of spoken English!

Oh the irony...

I've got it, first you take screw driver and undo the face plate, then you carefully (so as not to zap yourself) separate all the wires from the switches. Once you've completely disconnected the wires begin smashing the drywall around the plug with a sledge hammer, if you've got wooden paneling a sawzall might work better. Now you should have some rather exposed wiring, if you can't tell immediately which wires run upstairs to the loft, start pulling, the wires should easily rip through the remaining plaster and quickly the offending wire (you did want the house stripped right) should be obvious.

Americans speak American. England speak English. Scotland speaks Scottish. Ireland speaks Irish. Australia speaks Australian.

thats it! they're 5 different languages, there are most probably more, but that is all that comes to my head!

Scots speak? I thought that was all mumbling, clicks and chirps...

No no no, that's the Canadians....

Scots just slur English due to imbibing excessive amounts of alcohol. ;)

"I've got it, first you take screw driver and undo the face plate, then you carefully (so as not to zap yourself) separate all the wires from the switches. Once you've completely disconnected the wires begin smashing the drywall around the plug with a sledge hammer, if you've got wooden paneling a sawzall might work better. Now you should have some rather exposed wiring, if you can't tell immediately which wires run upstairs to the loft, start pulling, the wires should easily rip through the remaining plaster and quickly the offending wire (you did want the house stripped right) should be obvious."

Nice try. ;)

All three sets of wires are connected to the light fixture upstairs. That, in addition to all the twists and turns the wire make snaking from the cellar/basement to the loft/attic make it impossible to tell which one is actually connect tot he bulb itslef. ;)

Walking from the cellar to the loft involves walking upstairs and past the kitchen. The kitchen has a fridge and their's beer in the fridge.
Who are you trying to kid GL, you know we'll never get to the loft...

Also in the kitchen is a yellow pages phone directory.
Use it to phone a man who knows about bulbs, switches and electiricty things...

Turn on two of the light switches, leaving the central one off.
After a few minutes, turn off the left hand switch.
Go to the loft, if the light is on, it's the right hand switch.
If the light is not on, check if it's still warm, if it is, it's the left hand switch.
If the light is not on or warm, it's the central switch.

G. It's a show home. There's no beer in the fridge.

Raven. :D Correct! ;)

"Scots just slur English due to imbibing excessive amounts of alcohol. ;) "

A proper Scot would claim there is no such thing as an excessive amount of alcohol. =)

use your ELB to shoot an arrow upwards making a hole in the ceiling so when you turn on the lights you can see light coming down through the hole made by previously mentioned arrow ;)

Canadians don't mumble we're very loud because we know Americans don't listen and we also know there's more than one word for a item.

To try real-life light switches, try my silly game: http://www.defhoboz.biz/rpg2/

Thanks 'Fex, I always wondered how real-life light switches work! :D

Do TVs always change when you turn the light on and off? It would be pretty hard to watch a program with your roomate playing games with your light switch, completely forgetting the epileptic seizures that might incur