"... Suppose we wish to know which window in a 36-story building are safe to drop eggs from, and which will cause the eggs break on landing. We make a few assumptions:
- An egg that survives a fall can be used again.
- A broken egg must be discarded.
- The effect of a fall is the same for all eggs.
- If an egg breaks when dropped, then it would break if dropped from a higher window.
- If an egg survives a fall, then it would survive a shorter fall.
- It is not ruled out that the first-floor windows break eggs, nor is it ruled out that the 36-floor eindows do not cause an egg to break.
If only one egg is available and we wish to be sure of obtaining the right result, the experiment can be carried out in only one way. Drop the egg from the first-floor window; if it survives, drop it from the second-floor window. Continue upward until it breaks. In the worst case, this method might require 36 droppings. Suppose two eggs are available. What is the least number of egg-droppings that is guranteed to work in all cases? ..."
| Konhauser, Velleman and Wagon (1996, page 53), Which Way Did the Bicycle Go? |
