The Head of Westcott House keeps the parcel and ledger under the senior prefect’s supervision. Peter Hogg is sent back toward Abbey House with the newly secured package.
Alan is directed across the quadrangle toward the school laboratory for the afternoon academic period. Damp stone gives way to the sharper smells of oil, brass, and heated glass.
Inside, H. S. Gervis arranges wires, balances, and glass vessels across a long bench. Donald Eperson sits nearby with a sheaf of mathematical exercises, marking figures in blue pencil.
H. S. Gervis
Turing, you are early enough to be useful. Do not touch the apparatus until you understand what has been set out.
Gervis pauses beside a brass instrument whose screws and sliding scale require careful adjustment. Eperson looks up from the exercises, his attention drawn by the boy’s road-worn reputation and evident interest.
Donald Eperson
He has already shown some ability with figures, Gervis. Let us see whether his curiosity produces accuracy, or merely questions.
H. S. Gervis
Quite. Turing, observe the arrangement and tell me what measurement it is intended to make.
✓ Quest Accepted
Identify the measurement the apparatus is intended to make
“I study how the apparatus is arranged and state the measurement it suggests.”
SUCCESS (Great Physics, rolled +1)
Alan studies the bench without touching it. Wires lead toward the brass instrument, whose sliding scale and adjusting screws suggest controlled comparison rather than simple weighing; the glass vessels appear arranged to complete the circuit.
Alan Turing
It appears intended to measure electrical resistance, sir, by balancing the circuit and comparing the unknown resistance with a known one.
H. S. Gervis
Good, Turing. You have identified the essential purpose, and you have not mistaken the balances for a chemical experiment.
Gervis turns one brass screw a fraction, revealing a finer adjustment beneath the scale. Donald Eperson stops marking his exercise and watches the apparatus with renewed attention.
Donald Eperson
Then the accuracy depends upon the balance being exact, does it not? A careless reading would make the comparison worthless.
H. S. Gervis
Precisely. Turing, you may now examine the connections. Tell me which alteration would disturb the balance first.
Determine which alteration would disturb the balance first
Quest Complete
Identify the measurement the apparatus is intended to make