Nine Card TrickThis is a great trick since it involves everyone. Discovering the math that makes the trick work is as interesting as the magic itself. The mathematical explanations can range from simple arithmetic to algebra.The Trick:

1. Ask every student to get 9 random cards from a deck (no jokers). 2. Each student should mix their cards thoroughly, then square them up face down in

their hand.3. Ask the students to look at the third card from the top of the face-down packet and

remember this card.4. Replace the card so that it is still third from the top.5. Now tell the class that they will be mixing the cards, but in a special way,

depending on the name of the card. Let me explain it first.If you picked an ace, you’d deal cards face down onto the table, one on top of another, spelling that name. If you picked a seven, you’d spell s-e-v-e-n, one card for each letter.

6. Do that now. Spell the value of the card you just looked at, dealing one card for each letter, one on top of the other.

7. There are some cards on the table and some in your hands. Take the cards in your hands and drop them on top of the cards on the table. Now pick up the whole packet.

8. Since the second name of every card is “of”, we need to spell o-f. Do this now, just as before, dealing one card on top of the other. Take the cards left in your hand, drop them on top, and pick up the whole packet.

9. The last name of your card will be clubs, hearts, spades, or diamonds. If you picked clubs, spell, c-l-u-b-s, one on top of another. Do it now.

10. Whatever cards are in your hand, drop them on top.11. Tell the class that you have no idea what card they chose, in fact, everyone

probably chose a different card. Also, because of the way the cards were mixed, every card was mixed differently since a two is different than a queen and clubs are different from diamonds. So, I can’t know where your card ended up.

12. The selected card will always be 5th from the top. Ways to reveal this are endless. One way to sell this is by instructing the class to spell the one word that will always explain solutions to problems (M-A-T-H) one card on top of another. This displaces the top four cards to the table. The selected card is now on top of the cards in their hand. The MATH has solved the problem and found the selected card.

The best way to understand this trick is to do it over and over with the selected card face-up, third from the top. After each word is spelled, check the position of the face-up selection. Watch how it moves, and try to figure out how to explain it mathematically. Once you understand the principle, you can change the configurations. You can entertain yourself for a long time with this trick!