I just discovered this neat little trick, but I can’t figure out how it works. I’m sure the answer is probably very obvious, but I just can’t seem to get it. Help.
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/mindprobe.html
It didn’t work for me.
The symbols are changed each time. The numbers in the diagonal that corresponds to multiples of 9 all have the same symbol. That’s the symbol you’ll get each time.
Didn’t work for me, either.
It should always work, unless you’ve made a mistake. (Or unless the web chappies have made a mistake).
Anyway, I’ll expand Zeldar’s explanation a tad:
- Any 2-digit number can be expressed as: (10a+b). I.e., 57 = (10x5+7); a=5, b=7.
- So, When you subtract each number’s digits from the number, you have: (10a+b)-a-b.
- I.e. 9a.
So, after the little manipulation, every number you end up with is a multiple of 9. If you look in the table, all such numbers have the same digit, which contains the Mystical Symbol of Great Opportunity.
Maybe ‘didn’t work for me’ means the web page, since it might not be displaying correctly. I’m using Mozilla 1.4, and all I get is a small blank square where the table should be (and unless you’ve seen it before, it makes the ‘find the symbol’ instruction rather mystifying).
Me too.