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"He only likes to play silly games. I
have tried all ways to make him start taking interest in science, but
failed every time," says the Nobel Laureate. "Have you tried
playing games with him?" says Max Planck, who is also a Nobel
Laureate. It is surely a distinguished gathering. "What
games?" says Joseph John. "Let me demonstrate. Please, call
your son, he hasn’t seen my house," says Planck.
Planck (to the boy after
he’s brought): "A light bulb hangs in my room across the street
and, outside, there are three switches, of which, only one is connected
to the lamp. Right now, all switches are ‘off’ and the bulb is not
lit. Let’s play a game. You are allowed to check in the room only once
to see if the bulb is lit or not. This is not visible from the outside.
Find out with which of the three switches the light bulb can be switched
on." The guests follow George to Planck’s house.
To find the correct switch
(1, 2, or 3), George turns switch 1 to ‘on’ and leaves it like that
for a few minutes. After that, he turns switch 1 back to ‘off’ and
turns switch 2 to ‘on’. Now, he enters the room. If the light bulb
is lit, he’ll know that switch 2 is connected to it. The bulb is not
lit, so, it has to be switch 1 or 3. He touches for short the light
bulb. If the bulb is still hot, then, switch 1 was the correct one; the
bulb is cold, so, it has to be switch 3. The guests: "Good heavens,
Thomson! The child’s a genius." J.J. Thomson: "Gentlemen, I
apologise for hiding the truth, but if I ever recommended his name for a
Cambridge fellowship, I didn’t want anyone to say that he didn’t
deserve it." (Write at The Tribune or adityarishi99@yahoo.co.in)
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