The mathematics of eating out.

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

This is pretty neat how it works out.

DON’T CHEAT BY SCROLLING DOWN FIRST

It takes less than a minute…

Work this out as you read.

Don’t cheat and read the bottom until you’ve worked through it!

  1. First of all, pick the number of times a week that you would like to have dinner out. (try for more than once but less than 10)

  2. Multiply this number by 2 (Just to be bold)

  3. Add 5. (for Sunday)

  4. Multiply it by 50 - I’ll wait while you get the calculator…

  5. If you have already had your birthday this year add 1753… If you haven’t, add 1752…

6… Now subtract the four digit year that you were born.

You should have a three digit number .

The first digit of this was your original number

(I.e., how many times you want to have eat out each week.)

The next two numbers are…

YOUR AGE! (Oh YES, it IS!!!)

THIS IS THE ONLY YEAR (2003) IT WILL EVER WORK, SO SPREAD IT AROUND
WHILE IT LASTS. IMPRESSIVE, ISN’T IT?

I don’t normally pass on stuff like this that arrives in my inbox, but for once I decided to make an exception, as it IS quite neat.

2

Y’know that was pretty cool!!

3

Ummm… that ALWAYS works. You just have to change the 1753/1752.

Well, if you’re 100 or older it doesn’t work.

4

The instructions work out to the following equation (in my case, with no birthday this year yet):

50*(2x+5) + 1752 - birthyear = final number

which simplifies to:

100x + (2002-birthyear) = 100x + (my age)

It would have been better if we’d had to add 8 and multiply by 14 a few more times. :wink:

5

That was way too much math just to find out how old I am. I already know that.

Do one that generates how old I’ll be when I finally find True Love, and I’ll cheerfully break out the calculator.

6

Hmm, that was wrong. My final number was 241; the last two digits are indeed my age but the first digit is wrong–my number of desired eating out nights was 3.

And, yes, the math is correct.

7

gobear, um no it wasn’t. The formula equates exactly to multiplying your number by 100 and adding your age. Unless you’re -59 years old, it has to work out.

8

Oh, you mean eating at a restaurant!

I can’t believe I’m the only one to think that…

9

Don’t worry, Avalonian, you’re not.

10

34.5

11

I’m 452 years old. (Thank goodness I know that now. I lost my birth certificate years ago).

12

Um, yay algebra?

13

So I take it I was the only one actually impressed by that.

::shrug::

14

I’m really impressed. But a little pissed, 'cause it’s late and I can’t figure out how or why it works. Maybe in the morning? Math was never a strong suit of mine under any circumstances.

Anyway, thanks for posting it.

15

My dad and I used to play this game during long drives when I was a kid. He’d tell me to pick a starting number and then do all sorts of calculations, and eventually I’d end up at my age, or the year I was born, or the number of the highway exit that was about to come up.

I eventually figured out how he did it, though. It’s pretty easy once you have a few tricks up your arithmetical sleeve. :slight_smile:

16

Cool band name! Your Arithmetical Sleeve

17

I got 242. It should have been 220, but I’m not great at math. :slight_smile: I was amused that my wrong answer still covered Life, the Universe, and Everything. :smiley:

18

For me the equation is much more simple.

Two lips divided by one tongue.

Makes things a hole lot easier and even more fun.

19

It sure does

20

I got that in an email last year (2002) saying that was the only year it would work. Does the year even matter?