Insight · ★★★☆☆ · ~6 min
The 100 Lockers
100 students toggle 100 lockers. Which stay open? The answer is pure number theory.
by MindYourPuzzle
A deceptively simple setup with a beautiful number-theory punchline.
A school hallway has 100 lockers, all closed, and 100 students.
- Student 1 walks by and toggles every locker (opens all of them).
- Student 2 toggles every 2nd locker (2, 4, 6, …) — closing them.
- Student 3 toggles every 3rd locker (3, 6, 9, …) — opening or closing each.
- …and so on: Student k toggles every k-th locker, up through Student 100.
"Toggle" means: if it's open, close it; if closed, open it.
After all 100 students have passed, how many lockers are left OPEN?
(Answer with the number.)
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