Amazing Math Tricks

Math tricks always seem to arouse the interest of most young people. They are fun to perform and help students learn and practice various math skills.

I think this is such a great way for kids to learn....make it fun and they will learn and keep coming back for more. As a parent or teacher, tricks are an excellent way to encourage your child to get more enjoyment out of math.

There are several different types to enjoy.

Math Number Tricks

Most of us use numbers in our every day lives. Number tricks are pretty cool and work because of the math. Here's one dealing with a persons age.

• Ask the person to multiply the first number of his or her age by 5.

• Tell them to add 3.

• Now tell them to double this figure.

• Finally, have the person add the second number of his or her age to the figure and ave them tell you their answer.

• Deduct 6 and you will have their age.

Pretty cool. Check out more math number tricks.

Math Card Tricks

Another type of math trick that is a lot of fun are math card tricks. Most of us probably have a deck of cards laying around the house somewhere. And we've all seen a card trick or two. I love to see the expression on the face of someone who's just seen a pretty amazing card trick.

You put a deck of cards in your pocket, and invite anyone in the audience to call out a number between 1 and 15. Then you reach into your pocket, you take out a set of cards whose sum is the number that was called!

How can you perform this magic trick?

The Math Behind the Fact:

This mathematical magic trick can be found in the reference and is based on the properties of binary numbers. Every number between 1 and 15 has a unique representation as a sum of some collection of the numbers 1, 2, 4, and 8. (To see which collection, just take the given number and successively subtract the largest number of 1, 2, 4, and 8 that is less than the given number. That number is part of your collection. The subtraction yields a new number; now repeat the process with this number, over and over, until you get 0.) The collection of numbers you obtain reveals the binary decomposition of the given number into sums of powers of two (in contrast to the usual representation of a number into sums of powers of ten).

Now before the trick starts, pick an Ace, 2, 4, and 8 and put them on top of the deck, and then put the deck in your pocket.

Then when a number between 1 and 15 is called out, take the binary decomposition of the number, and use that to determine which of the first four cards you will pull out. No one needs to know that you never need to use the other cards!

Su, Francis E., et al. "Binary Card Trick." Mudd Math Fun Facts.

Check out more math card tricks.

Here's a card trick that will quickly improve your math skills while you amaze your friends. For this trick, you need a full deck of cards. Take out the kings, queens, jacks, 10s, and jokers. From the remaining deck, ask someone to place five cards face-up in a row. Ask for the deck back.

Use your math skills to figure out what card will be needed for the top of the pyramid and place it face-down, at the top. To do this, look at the bottom row of cards. On a sheet of paper, multiply the first number on the left by one. Multiply the second number by four. Multiply the third ...

Check out more math tricks.