07 Jan '05 03:02>
Here's an interesting trick that hasn't been mathematically proven, but works. I thought of it last week.
Steps (example number in parentheses):
1. Think of any whole number greater than 2 (5)
2. Subtract 1 (4)
3. Square the number that you get in the previous step (16)
4. Multiply by 4 (64)
5. Add 1 at the end of the number in the previous step (641)
6. Add the number in step 5 to itself backward (641+146=787)
7. Repeat step 6 as often as necessary, and you'll eventually get a palindrome (you do not need to do this step that much, it normally produces a palindrome quite quickly)
Note: For those of you who don't know, a palindrome is a number that's the same backward and forward (1221, 141, 3548453, 22, 38983, etc)
So, what's so special about this? Well, if you try to put a very unlucky number in step 1, you'll never, never, never get a palindrome no matter how much you repeat step 6.
Hint: That number is between 10 and 20.
Steps (example number in parentheses):
1. Think of any whole number greater than 2 (5)
2. Subtract 1 (4)
3. Square the number that you get in the previous step (16)
4. Multiply by 4 (64)
5. Add 1 at the end of the number in the previous step (641)
6. Add the number in step 5 to itself backward (641+146=787)
7. Repeat step 6 as often as necessary, and you'll eventually get a palindrome (you do not need to do this step that much, it normally produces a palindrome quite quickly)
Note: For those of you who don't know, a palindrome is a number that's the same backward and forward (1221, 141, 3548453, 22, 38983, etc)
So, what's so special about this? Well, if you try to put a very unlucky number in step 1, you'll never, never, never get a palindrome no matter how much you repeat step 6.
Hint: That number is between 10 and 20.