Question

13. Consider the set of northwestern states or provinces

{Montana, Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Alaska, British
Columbia, Alberta}. If a person chooses one element,
show that in three yes or no questions, we can determine
the element.

Answer 1

I assume that the element is one of the states. to do this you need to get a "bit" (binary digit) of information with each question. A "bit" is an "on-off" or "yes-no" decision that divides the number of alternatives in half. Choose some criteria that will allow you to do this. You could do this in 3 questions for even 8 different categories. (8 = 2^3)

For example, does the state name begin with A or B? If the answer is yes, then you deal with the remaining three; if no, with the remaining four.

Another way to start is, is the state in the contiguous United States? This makes the same split.

I started. Now you should be able to finish it.