Brain Teasers
Menacing Matchsticks
Trick
Trick brain teasers appear difficult at first, but they have a trick that makes them really easy.Trick
Take seven matchsticks and arrange them on a table to make two adjacent squares of the same size. The matchsticks should look like the number 8.
Now, moving only two matchsticks, can you make....200?
You cannot:
Stack the matchsticks.
Bend or break the matchsticks.
Remove the matchsticks.
Now, moving only two matchsticks, can you make....200?
You cannot:
Stack the matchsticks.
Bend or break the matchsticks.
Remove the matchsticks.
Hint
What AM I asking you to make?Look carefully ....
Answer
Assuming that the matchsticks are upright (forming an 8), take the upper-right match and place it horizontally above the 8.Next, take the match on the lower-left of what now looks like a 6, and place it vertically just above the match you last put down.
What you should have is 1/5, or .200 . Ellipses only consist of three points, not four. In other words, I asked you for .200, not 200.
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