Dropping Balls Puzzle
The Puzzle:
You have to do an experiment to determine the highest floor on a 100-floor building from which a manufactured snooker ball may be dropped without breaking.
You are given two identical snooker balls, which you can drop from various floors of the building, to carry out your experiment.
If a ball doesn't break after being dropped, it may be reused without suffering any loss of quality. But if both balls break before you have determined the highest floor, then you are an incompetent bungler and your boss is ultimately going to fire you.
What is the least number of times you must drop the snooker balls in order to determine the highest floor?
You are given two identical snooker balls, which you can drop from various floors of the building, to carry out your experiment.
If a ball doesn't break after being dropped, it may be reused without suffering any loss of quality. But if both balls break before you have determined the highest floor, then you are an incompetent bungler and your boss is ultimately going to fire you.
What is the least number of times you must drop the snooker balls in order to determine the highest floor?
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