Skip to main content

Can you solve the control room riddle? - Dennis Shasha

5,771,062 Views

2,925 Questions Answered

TEDEd Animation

Let’s Begin…

As your country's top spy, you must infiltrate the headquarters of the evil syndicate, find the secret control panel, and deactivate their death ray. But your reconnaissance team is spotty, and you have only limited information about the control panel's whereabouts. Can you solve the control room riddle and deactivate their weapon in time? Dennis Shasha shows you how.

WatchThink Dig Deeper Discuss
Recall that the hint is that all rooms are connected to three other rooms except one that is connected to only one other room. We see from the solution in the video that a floor containing six rooms is possible and six is the smallest number for which it is possible. Would a floor having seven rooms be possible even if not the smallest?

About TED-Ed Animations

TED-Ed Animations feature the words and ideas of educators brought to life by professional animators. Are you an educator or animator interested in creating a TED-Ed Animation? Nominate yourself here »

Meet The Creators

  • Educator Dennis E. Shasha
  • Script Editor Alex Gendler
  • Producer Zedem Media
  • Director Michael Kalopaidis
  • Sound Designer Andreas Trachonitis
  • Animator Maria Savva, Andria Pourouti
  • Artist Jeanne Bornet
  • Narrator Addison Anderson

More from Math In Real Life