A Neat Little Math Trick

Here's a bizarre math trick I got in an email a while ago, deleted, and then found again on the website curiousmath.com. Try it out; it's really freaky.

1) pick a number from 1-9


2) subtract 5


3) multiply by 3


4) square the number (multiply by the same number -- not square root; and yes, you can square 0. It equals 0)


5) add the digits until you get only one digit (i.e. 64=6+4=10= 1+0=1)


6) if the number is less than 5, add five. Otherwise subtract 4.


7) multiply by 2


8) subtract 6


9) map the digit to a letter in the alphabet 1=A, 2=B, 3=C, etc...


10) pick a name of a European country that begins with that letter


11) take the second letter in the country name and think of a mammal that begins with that letter


12) think of the color of that mammal (keep scrolling)







DO NOT SCROLL DOWN UNTIL YOU HAVE DONE ALL OF THE ABOVE







You have a gray elephant from Denmark.

Right??? I know I did. If you want to know the reasoning behind it, or why you ought to have that answer, check out the website above and scroll down to the February 11, 2003 entry.