Here’s a terrific mathematical card trick that will impress your friends. When you do this trick, the effect of the...
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Poker Probability Paradox
In poker, there is a hierarchy of desirable hands which relate to how unlikely the hand is. For instance, a...
Continue reading...Fourier Ears Only
Did you know that every sufficiently smooth function on an interval can be expressed as an infinite sum of sines...
Continue reading...Vickrey Auction
Suppose you are hosting a silent auction to sell your antique car. The rules are: (1) prospective buyers bid for...
Continue reading...Brouwer Fixed Point Theorem
One of the most useful theorems in mathematics is an amazing topological result known as the Brouwer Fixed Point Theorem....
Continue reading...Monty Hall Problem
Here’s a problem that makes the round every few years, and each time, it is hotly debated. You are on...
Continue reading...Deal or No Deal
On the TV show “Deal or No Deal”, a contestant is faced with a number of briefcases (26 in the...
Continue reading...Inductive Tiling
Can all but one square of an n by n chessboard be covered by L-shaped trominoes? In general, it may...
Continue reading...Ants on a Stick
One hundred ants are dropped on a meter stick. Each ant is traveling either to the left or the right...
Continue reading...Ham Sandwich Theorem
Here is one of my favorite theorems from topology, called the Ham Sandwich Theorem. It says: given globs of ham, bread,...
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