Spectrometer test tells if a ball is zinc or copper
Source: Tuymaada 2018 Junior League/Problem 5
July 20, 2018
combinatoricsgraph theory
Problem Statement
identical balls lie on a table. balls are made of copper, and balls are made of zinc. The assistant numbered the balls. Once spectrometer test is applied to balls and allows to determine whether they are made of the same metal or not. However, the results of the test can be obtained only the next day. What minimum number of tests is required to determine the material of each ball if all the tests should be performed today?Proposed by N. Vlasova, S. Berlov