Do a Cool Mathematical Mind Reading Trick

Mathematical mind reading tricks are a great way to combine your mastery of math with a bit of magical fun.

Steps

0 to 9

You ask the spectator to pick a number from 0 to 9 in his/her head. Later on after some steps they pick another number from 0 to 9. After one more step they tell you the answer and you can tell them the two numbers they picked in the same order!

  1. Ask them to pick a number in their mind from 0 to 9. ( Let's say 2 ).
  2. Tell them to double the number. ( 2+2=4 ).
  3. Tell them to add five to the new number. ( 4+5=9 ).
  4. Tell them to multiply the answer by five. ( 9*5=45 ).
  5. Now tell them to remember the answer. ( 45 ).
  6. Ask them to pick another number from 0 to 9. ( in this case 4 )
  7. Ask them to add this number to their answer. ( 45+4=49 ).
  8. Ask them to tell you the answer. ( 49 ).
  9. Listen to it carefully and then in your mind subtract 25 from the total. ( 49-25=24 )
  10. The first digit of the answer YOU get in your mind after subtracting 25 ( 24 ) is the first number they picked ( 2 ) and the second digit is the second number they picked ( 4 ).

Mind Reading Number Trick

  1. Understand the math behind this trick. Clearly no matter what you start with, the answer should come out the same (zero isn't allowed). You can see why this trick works by using a little bit of high school algebra; if you follow the instructions starting with the variable X instead of an actual number, you will see that X is eliminated by adding the example's number 17 (see below).
  2. Ham this trick up with magician's patter.
    • The "original number" could be anything you want---someone's age, or their favorite number--- just ask the crowd for suggestions. This will change the final outcome, so test beforehand.
  3. Perform the trick:
    • Think of a number, any positive integer. Keep it small so you can do computations in your head.
    • Square it.
    • Add the result to your original number.
    • Divide by your original number.
    • Add, oh, how about 17.
    • Subtract your original number.
    • Divide by 6.
    • The number you are thinking of now is 3!
  4. Make your own magic number trick. Using this idea, you can make up your own mental math trick right on the spot. Just don't do anything too obvious, such as telling people to add 5, subtract their original number, and say "the number you are thinking of is 5".

Tips

  • It is important to tell them to pick a number between 0 and 9 ONLY.
  • Here's the math behind this mind trick: the person picks a number X, then multiplies it by two and adds five. You get 2X+5. You then multiply the result by five, you get: 10X+25. Te person picks a new number Y and adds it to the result, you get: 10X+Y+25. When you secretly subtract 25, you're left with 10X+Y, in other words a number whose tens digit is X and the units digit is Y.
  • If the answer you get after subtracting 25 is 1 then the first number they picked was 0 and the second number they picked was one.
  • If it doesn't work, you might have left out some steps or put them in a different order. Try reading it again and remember the steps and their sequence to get it perfect every time.

Warnings

  • Don't tell anyone your secret, or everyone will know and it won't work any more.

Things You'll Need

  • Someone to try it out with.
  • Quick and accurate ways to get the answer in your mind.

Related Articles

You may like

Retrieved from "https://kipkis.com/index.php?title=Do_a_Cool_Mathematical_Mind_Reading_Trick&oldid=277092"