100 Prisoners in Solitary Cells
Puzzle :
100
prisoners are stuck in the prison in solitary cells. The warden of the
prison got bored one day and offered them a challenge. He will put one
prisoner per day, selected at random (a prisoner can be selected more
than once), into a special room with a light bulb and a switch which
controls the bulb. No other prisoners can see or control the light bulb.
The prisoner in the special room can either turn on the bulb, turn off
the bulb or do nothing. On any day, the prisoners can stop this process
and say “Every prisoner has been in the special room at least once”. If
that happens to be true, all the prisoners will be set free. If it is
false, then all the prisoners will be executed. The prisoners are given
some time to discuss and figure out a solution. How do they ensure they
all go free?
Answer :
Since
this is the only way they will EVER get out of that prison, they decide
to work together and make a plan. They select one prisoner (Bob, easier
to refer) as the counter.
Every
time any prisoner is selected other than Bob, they follow these steps.
If they have never turned on the light bulb before and the light bulb is
off, they turn it on. If not, they don’t do anything (simple as that).
Now if Bob is selected and the light bulb is already on, he adds one to
his count and turns off the bulb. If the bulb is off, he just sits there
meditates or whatever he wants to. The day his count reaches 99, he
calls the warden and tells him “Every prisoner has been in the special
room at least once”.
So
how does this solution work? Every time a prisoner enters the room
first, he turns on the bulb if it is off. This way every prisoner turns
on the bulb only once. When Bob enters and sees the bulb on, he knows
that one new prisoner has entered the room so he adds one to his count.
So when his counter reaches 99, he knows the rest of them have all been
in the special room and obviously, he has been in the special room.
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