POW #3: Mislabeled Boxes

You have three boxes: one (labelled BB) contains two black marbles, one (labelled WW) contains two white marbles, and one (labelled BW) contains one white and one black marble. A ``friend'' of yours switched the labels of the boxes so that each label is incorrect. Your job is to figure out the correct labelling by taking one marble at a time out of any box (without peeking inside). What is the fewest number of marbles you need to look at in order to be sure that you can correctly label the boxes? Explain your answer.


Return to Laura Taalman, Burruss 127, by 11/5/03.