What's the LED Pattern?

1 2 3 4 5 6

  restart

Square 1 flashes every second, square 2 every two seconds, square k every k seconds. Press   to begin the sequence.

  1. How long will it take for squares 1 thru 4 to flash green simultaneously?
  2. How long would it take for squares 1 thru 5 to turn green simultaneously?             
  3. How long before all 6 turn green simultaneously?
  4. How many hours would it take for 11 consecutive squares (viz., square 11 flashes green every 11 seconds) to light simultaneously?
Approximately (This lags behind as time increases.) *Correct results are obtained if you instead count LED flashes as 1 sec each.

Important Note: The LED display seems to be too lethargic in Netscape. You may need to view this page with Internet Explorer for better observation of the patterns; also CPU speed affects timing of the counter.

Have fun! If you know of a better way to create this exercise, please let me know. --Mike C.

 
Puzzle by Mike Christoffel
ALD Math | LED Levity Home 
For more puzzles, see MATC Math Club Sri (Jeganathan Sriskandarajah, et al.)
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