Reply To: Puzzles
Considering the Cooke and Wheatstone telegraph, the five needle telegraph system allows the transmission of twenty characters. The six needle telegraph system allows the transmission of thirty characters.
The sequence (needles, characters) is:
0, 0
1, 0
2, 2
3, 6
4, 12
5, 20
6, 30
1. How many characters could a similar seven needle system be able to convey and display?
2. Can you derive the general formula for the number of characters a system with n needles would be able to convey and display?