# I go up and down, but I never move. What am I?

Source: https://silverapuzzles.com/riddles/i-go-up-and-down-but-i-never-move-what-am-i

A motion riddle in the first person. The speaker goes both up and down while staying exactly where it is, which means the movement belongs to someone else.

**Answer:** A staircase.

Stairs rise and fall between floors while staying in place.

Hint: You climb me.

## How to think about it

1. Something that goes up and down but never moves must be a fixed structure that people travel along.
2. Think of ways you go up and down inside a building.
3. An elevator moves, so it is out. What is left is the structure you climb on foot.
4. A staircase leads up and down between floors and stays bolted in place.

## Why “a staircase” is the answer

A staircase is the path you take up to the next floor and down again, yet the stairs themselves never go anywhere. The riddle hides the real subject of “go up and down”: it is the people on the stairs, not the stairs. Steps, stairs and a ladder are all accepted since they describe the same idea.

## Common wrong answers

- **An elevator.** An elevator goes up and down, but it moves while doing it, so the second half fails.
- **A thermometer.** The mercury or alcohol in a thermometer moves up and down, so the thermometer’s contents do move.