Brain Teasers
Card Quandary
Mavis the 'mathemagician' held ten cards (face down) in her hand - Ace (1) to 10 of Hearts.
She moved the top card to the bottom of the pack, counting '1', and turned up the next card, placing it on the table. It was the Ace.
She counted two more cards to the bottom of the pack, showed the next card - the '2' - and placed it on the table.
Counting, 'One, two, three' more to the bottom, she then showed the next card - '3' of Hearts.
This continued for four to nine, and the final card was - ta-daah! - the '10' of Hearts.
Question: What was the original order of cards, from the top to bottom?
She moved the top card to the bottom of the pack, counting '1', and turned up the next card, placing it on the table. It was the Ace.
She counted two more cards to the bottom of the pack, showed the next card - the '2' - and placed it on the table.
Counting, 'One, two, three' more to the bottom, she then showed the next card - '3' of Hearts.
This continued for four to nine, and the final card was - ta-daah! - the '10' of Hearts.
Question: What was the original order of cards, from the top to bottom?
Hint
Try it with pieces of paper, real cards, or a diagram on paper ...... or scroll down to a hint that might make it too easy ...
The cards, from the top of the pack, must have been:
* A * * 2 * * * 3 *
Answer
9 A 8 5 2 4 7 6 3 10You might like to try this as a challenging 'trick' for younger people to work out (or your parents!!)
A further challenge is to 'spell' the number as you move the cards, one by one, to the bottom:
"O, N, E, '1', T, W, O, '2', etc.
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