It is not a problem of bravery or patience, but of worst-case design. All its elegance lies in finding a plan that shines not when everything goes right, but when everything goes wrong.
The 100-story building and the two eggs
Riddle statement
You have two identical eggs and access to a 100-story building.
There is a critical floor such that:
- if an egg is dropped from that floor or from a higher one, it breaks;
- if it is dropped from a lower floor, it does not break.
You need to determine that critical floor while minimizing, in the worst case, the number of drops.
What is the smallest number of drops you can guarantee in the worst case, and what strategy achieves it?