Just want to see how many people can answer the following questions:

[noTch]

1) you look at the altimeter

2) turn 'ON' all three switches

3)  you are the letter 'E'

[lowZX14]

1. Figure out how many floors the building is, multply it by ceiling heights and you'll be in the ballpark. Sell the cronometer to a guy on the street for lunch money.

2. Open the door to the room but dont enter it and check the switches.

3. E

That my friend is the answer, everyone else who said turn all 3 switches on, I thought about that but the question asks how do you know which of the 3 switches controls the light.

[Strip]

1. Take the barometer, drop it from highest point of building and time the descent with chronometer. Plug numbers into the equation (gt^2)/2 where g is the force of gravity and t is the time to impact.

2. TinMan has a good answer and was along the lines of my first thoughts.

3. A period....or singularity according to modern physics.

Strip

[lowZX14]

1. Take the barometer, drop it from highest point of building and time the descent with chronometer. Plug numbers into the equation (gt^2)/2 where g is the force of gravity and t is the time to impact.

2. TinMan has a good answer and was along the lines of my first thoughts.

3. A period....or singularity according to modern physics.

Strip

The problem with #2 is that you are only allowed to enter the room once and once you do you cannot leave it.  I think FiLtH is right on that one. 

#3 Can't be a period because of the question.  The letter "e" is correct on that one.

[Strip]

You might have me on three but number two...

The switches are outside of the room....

[lowZX14]

I know, so if you turn one on, let the bulb heat up, turn it off, turn another on, go in to see if the bulb is warm from switch #1 or is still on from switch #2, the question and instructions state that once you are in the room you cannot leave, therefore if the bulb is neither warm or on, you could deduce that it's switch #3.  However, if you open the door and look in without actually entering the room you can try all 3 to verify like FiLtH said. 

[Stott]

Not reading the thread...but drop the altimeter and time its fall
E is the third one.


Working on the switch

[Stott]

Open the door...you can enter it only once...but did not say you could not open the door and look inside.

[SPKmes]

1. Figure out how many floors the building is, multply it by ceiling heights and you'll be in the ballpark. Sell the cronometer to a guy on the street for lunch money.

That's how I'd do it.... But you have to look over the side, might get scary...or just use the surrounding buildings windows as a mirror...

For the dropping and timing thing...wouldn't you have to know the weight of the altimeter also?

[Chalenge]

For the dropping and timing thing...wouldn't you have to know the weight of the altimeter also?

No.

[lowZX14]

No.

Yesssssss, one thing I did learn from going to the museum in Richmond as a kid is that everything falls at the same rate no matter the weight as long as their aerodynamics are the same.  They had a cool little exhibition of this, you put two balls that are the same size but different weights and cranked them up about 10 feet or so on this tower.  Then you pulled some lever and it dropped both at the same time, it was amazing to see how they both landed at the same time.

[MachFly]

Yesssssss, one thing I did learn from going to the museum in Richmond as a kid is that everything falls at the same rate no matter the weight as long as their aerodynamics are the same.  They had a cool little exhibition of this, you put two balls that are the same size but different weights and cranked them up about 10 feet or so on this tower.  Then you pulled some lever and it dropped both at the same time, it was amazing to see how they both landed at the same time.

that's because they do not get a chance to accelerate fast enough for air friction to take effect

[MachFly]

but did not say you could not open the door and look inside.

My apologies, I worded it wrong. You can not look inside.




BTW, I will post the correct answers 24 hours after I asked the question

[flight17]

for number 2 you could also flip on the first, look under the door and keep going until you see "the light"

[MachFly]

look under the door

well at least you did not say "drill a hole in the wall"