Question 570011
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The prisoners need to choose a leader, who we will hereafter call the "Scorekeeper"  The other prisoners will be refered to as "Transmitters"


Designate one of the switches as A and the other as B, i.e. decide that the left hand switch will be A.  And then make sure everyone knows their left from their right -- they are students after all.


When a Transmitter enters the room, s/he will take one of the following actions:


*[tex \LARGE \ \ \ ]If switch B is OFF and this person has never encountered switch B in the OFF position before, turn switch B ON.


*[tex \LARGE \ \ \ ]If switch B is ON, change the position of switch A.


*[tex \LARGE \ \ \ ]If switch B is OFF but this person has seen switch B in the OFF position on a previous visit, change the position of switch A.


The Transmitters' job is to wait for that one occasion when they encounter switch B in the OFF position for the first time so that they can turn it on.


When the Scorekeeper enters the room s/he takes one of the following actions:


*[tex \LARGE \ \ \ ]If switch B is ON, s/he turns it off and adds 1 to the score.


*[tex \LARGE \ \ \ ]If switch B is OFF, s/he changes the position of switch A and does NOT add to the score.


When the score reaches 21, the Scorekeeper announces that all of the prisoners have visited the room at least once.


I hope the warden takes the students who were convicted of watching Glee and throws them to the alligators anyway.


John
*[tex \LARGE e^{i\pi} + 1 = 0]
My calculator said it, I believe it, that settles it
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