I answered B also and the fact that everyone got this wrong in 1982 because the SAT question creators got it wrong. The correct answer was incorrectly not even listed. The explanation is mind-blowing in its simplicity and complexity added by being an observer.
I have seen the same problem in Astronomy. The number of times Earth rotates on its axis (sidereal days) in a year is exactly one more than the mean solar days - 366.2422... and 365.2422... respectively. (I think this is mentioned in the video). An analysis of this difference leads unambiguously to the direction in which the Earth revolves around the Sun.
The basis of the SAT question is the same abstract idea. However, the same problem becomes counterintuitive and easy to get wrong. I guess the way and direction in which the problem is stated leads to people interpreting it differently. It tells you how important the perspective is to solving a puzzle.
The importance of perspectives is similarly seen in the Monty Hall problem (the one with 3 doors, a car and two goats). While the problem trips up a lot of people, the results change if you change the problem to 100 doors with 99 goats and a car.
The sidereal day is counter-intuitive and when you learn what it is, there's beauty in how such a simple thing can appear complex because of the difference in perspective. This is similar to how Einstein figured out the time dilation aspect of constant speed of causality for all frames of reference. Incredible.
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[ 2.5 ms ] story [ 32.3 ms ] threadThe basis of the SAT question is the same abstract idea. However, the same problem becomes counterintuitive and easy to get wrong. I guess the way and direction in which the problem is stated leads to people interpreting it differently. It tells you how important the perspective is to solving a puzzle.
The importance of perspectives is similarly seen in the Monty Hall problem (the one with 3 doors, a car and two goats). While the problem trips up a lot of people, the results change if you change the problem to 100 doors with 99 goats and a car.