Singhal Aditi - How to become mathemagician

This book will make you fall in love with several topicsexponentials, for example. What I like most about its contents is that it not only explains the concept concisely, but also enlists real-life applications of the same. This is handy and provides clarity to students so that they can see where they will actually apply this knowledge once they are out of the classroom. Give it a read. You will be glad that you did!

H.S. Anand, zonal director, Akal Academies

Just like magicians performing tricks with a wave of their wands, Aditi and Sudhir have turned maths into a fascinating world of wonder with their new book. Becoming a maths wizard is now astonishingly easy with their interesting tricks and amazing mathematical facts. Just go through the pages, and amaze and impress your friends and audience with your superpowers of the mind! Its as easy as abracadabra!

Sharon Galstaun, academic head, St Karens High School and St Karens Secondary School, Patna

Aditi and Sudhir Singhals book How to Be a Mathemagician is for those who love maths as well as for people with maths-phobia. They have a knack of making this subject interesting and easy. Their sincere efforts and dedication in this field have given them a place among renowned and recognized authors of a subject that is of great value for todays student

Goldy Malhotra, director, Academic Staff Training College and Administration, Manav Rachna International Schools

This book will make maths understandable to all learners. It will help students prepare for any entrance examination where arithmetic has weightage, and teachers and mentors will find it very useful. I congratulate Aditi and Sudhir on making learning maths fun

Lalit Sharma, president and principal, FCS Foundation School, Punjab

How to Be a Mathemagician is a brilliant piece of work to strengthen and expand mathematical notions. It is a wonderful resource for teachers who want to increase active participation of students in maths lessons. Magic tricks, problem-solving methods and calculation techniques are specially beneficial for the students

Sharmila Singh, principal, Pioneer Montessori Inter College, Eldeco-I, Lucknow

How to Be a Mathemagician is a wonderfully entertaining and interesting book for adults and children alike. It kept my children engrossed for hours. They enjoyed learning the concepts and doing the magic tricks with their friends. Its written in a way that is easy to understand. The best part is that children dont even realize they are doing maths while having so much fun. I would highly recommend this book for all ages

Sona Sood, professional photographer

This book is a treat for both children and adults alike. It is a collection of engrossing tricks that will keep you on your toes all throughout. This book is especially helpful in gaining insight into new ways of teaching some difficult concepts to children in a more friendly manner. I extend my heartfelt congratulations to both the authors of this book for creating a marvellous mathematical journey for us to experience

Ashima Gupta, PhD, economics

To the

Almighty God,

the Supreme father of all souls and

the source of true knowledge

Why do children dread mathematics?

Because of the wrong approach.

Because it is looked at as a subject.

Shakuntala Devi

Introduction

M athematics is not just a subject but a part of our lives. Whether you are a child or a grown-up, a student or a professional, a musician or a magician, maths plays an important role in your daily routine. You can even find mathematical patterns in spiderwebs or honeycombs.

Learning maths can be made enjoyable if it is taught through activities, puzzles and games right from an early age. Many a time, we find that some students solve complex maths problems in minutes while some take a long time to solve even the basic ones. Contrary to popular belief, its not their level of knowledge that leads to this difference but the way they apply their knowledge.

This book is written with the aim of enhancing the power of reasoning, critical thinking and the problem-solving ability of the reader. It is intended for students, teachers and parents alike, as the learning of mathematics is not restricted to any age. For students who find themselves afraid of the subject, we have attempted to make it fun to learn and give them the confidence to approach each problem with a fresh perspective. We have also written this book for teachers, who can use many of the activities mentioned to make their classes livelier and show their students that maths need not be a dreaded subject. Parents can also pick up this book to make it easier to explain complex concepts to their children and help them develop a strong base in the subject. It contains mind-bending questions with unusual solutions, logic-related maths problems, interesting maths facts and proofs, and calculation tips that highlight the almost magical simplicity of the subject.These are effective methods that help in day-to-day application of mathematics, while reducing ones dependency on gadgets as well as providing good practice for the types of questions that are asked in examinations and interviews.

The other section of this book contains some amazing magic tricks and enthralling activitiesjust flip the book to find them!

You might find some parts of the book challenging even after reading and rereading the solutions. If so, keep going. Even without necessarily understanding every detail, you will be surprised how much of the overall picture you are able to absorb by simply moving ahead.

So forge ahead, work your brain and unravel the secrets and mysteries of mathematics.

PART A

PROBLEMS WITH SURPRISING SOLUTIONS

1

WHICH PIZZA DO YOU PREFER?

O nce I went to a restaurant with my kids, where they ordered a 12" pizza. After sometime, the waiter came and told us that they had, by mistake, served our order at another table. He apologized for the mix-up and offered us two 8"pizzas instead of one 12".

My kids were ecstatic when they heard this as they thought they would have more to eat and enjoy. But to their disappointment, I refused to accept this deal and insisted on our original order even though it meant a wait of another ten minutes.