Explaining a Fascinating Flash Game
5.02.2006
Bayi sent me a crystal ball that uses a mathematical trick.
You may want to try it and then revert to the explanation I have why it works.
here's the link: http://trunks.secondfoundation.org/files/psychic.swf
Warning: Spoiler! Do not read further if you don't want the trick revealed just yet. I suggest you try the link first before you read on.
If you'll notice all the "constant" answers are multiples of 9 =)
with the exception of 0 which the table will use as the starting point.
what i think makes this happen is that all symbols assigned to each multiple of 9 changes everytime, but the results will always end up being those numbers.
this is a mathematical trick which is really cool =)
by 'reducing' a number and adding the tens and ones unit, we actually lose their actual values without noticing it.
To illustrate, we have in base 10:
let Ab^1+Bb^0 = regular 2 digit base 10 number,
where A=the first digit, B=the second digit, b=the base, which'10'
e.g. for #88 = (8x10^1)+(8x10^0)
= (8x10)+(8x1)
= (80)+8
= 88
this should be the same for all the other numbers (for hundreds, use b^2, or 10^2 =100 (which is why we call it hundreds))
In effect what we are doing by reducing the number is the following:
for number: Ab^1+Bb^0 (88)
Ab^1+Bb^0 -------- we take the value 80 as 8
Ab^0+Bb^0 -------- 8+8 = 16, since b^0=1, we solve it as:
A+B -------- we subtract this from the original number
(Ab^1+Bb^0) - (A+B) ------ Substituing, we get
A(10) + B - A - B -------- which results to
(10)A - A
= 9(A)
With (A) being any number. Hence the multiples of 9.
I haven't checked other patterns but I surmise this is the only one used. I would guess that the other patterns or symbols used in the other non-multiple of 9 numbers are used to confuse the participant so that the pattern cannot be easily noticeable.
Interestingly, the multiples of 9 can further be reduced:
0 ~ 0+9 = 9
18 ~ 1+8 = 9
27 ~ 2+7 = 9
36 ~ 3+6 = 9 and so on...
It's a numbers game and a very interesting one at that. I hope now that the mathematics of the magic is revealed we do not see it as a bad trick - instead let's celebrate the guy who made the trick and the flash game... YOu can say knows his math very very well.
posted by Jdavies @ 5/02/2006,
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The Author
J.Davies
Jdavies lives in Quezon City, Philippines and has been blogging since 2002. A brand manager in a leading technology company and a freelance new media/web strategy consultant, he has refocused his blogging from personal, political & sociological observations, to marketing-related efforts and Internet trends that are relevant to his career and branding advocacies.
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