If you ever get tired of discussing current events and Neko Atsume updates with your friends, try dazzling them with numbers by trying out this really simple, really awesome maths trick. For those of you who remember it from your school days, high fives! And for everyone else, check out this video from YouTuber Tricklandia, who couldn't be more thrilled to be teaching us some super sneaky number games.
The trick goes like this:
- Think of any number from 1 to 10 (note: this trick works with basically any number, but keeping it small makes it easier for your friend to do the maths in their head).
- Multiply that number by 2.
- Add the number 8.
- Divide the total number by 2.
- Finally, subtract the original number you thought of.
- Be amazed as Tricklandia tells you the exact number you were thinking of.
He runs through the trick again, this time asking you to add the number 16 to your doubled number, and then running through the same steps as above. If you think you've got him this time… don't be fooled, Tricklandia can never be beaten!
So how does it work every single time? I'll let the video above explain that to you, but let's just say that number you ask them to add, whether it's 8, 16, 200, or 35,00, is the key, and the rest of the steps are really just some clever misdirection.
And if you're in the mood for some more number games, here's Henry from MinutePhysics with a really awesome technique of subtracting by adding. Yep, it can be done, and here's how: