Post:
You have three switches in one room and a single light bulb in another room. You are allowed to visit the room with the light bulb only once. How do you figure out which switch controls the bulb? Write your answer in the comments before looking at other answers.
Comment:
If this were an interview question, the correct response would be "Do you have any relevant questions for me? Because have a long list of things that more deserving of my precious time than to think about this!
After reading the incandescent bulb solution, and problems regarding touching the bulb, i would switch first switch on for a appreciably long time, such that bulb has hit maximum luminousity (they heat up as they run, the hotter they get, the brighter they are), then turn switch off, and turn second switch on and quicky run to other room. we are trying to observe change in luminousity as time elapses. if it reduces, it was first (we ran it for a long time, there would be some residual glow, from my irl observations from when i was small suggest roughly 1 min period where i can still tell, but bulb wattage, contrat with background and distance matter). if increasing or max luminous, then second, if nothing then third.
but it was a stupid question. my naive guess was it can not be done, because with just 1 binary observation, you can not tell from 3 switches (you need atleast 2, which the solution assumes as temp and light state, i substitute heat with light state in transition). but still stupid. my natural assumption was leds, even when i head incandascent bulbs in my house somewhere for nearly half of my life. it is also stupid, because when you allow me to do something i was mentioned in question to do, i could just bend my way to do anything. like punch/drill through wall, or hack surveillance systems, or just pull out my handy multimeter that i always have on me, open switch box and see which switch is live, which is dead, or see voltage/current/wattage change across the loop, or measure resistance and guess what thing is there, or like blackmail the interviewer to extract the answer.
You’re almost there. Turn the first one on for a while. Then then it off and turn the second one on and run to the room. There are theee possible scenarios. If the bulb is on, switch 2 controls it. If the bulb is hot but off switch 1 controls it. If the bulb is cold and off, switch 3 controls it.
i know this solution, but many problems are there, what if it is in a ceiling fixture, or enclosed in something such that i can not know the temp (hot or cold), then i can still observe luminosity changes. if you feel your eyes do a bad job, get a camera properly color and temp caliberated, and just focus on filament (now auto exposure or temperature adjustment).
tl:dr i am still trying to poke holes in this thermocol wall of defence.