POW #2 - The Magician

A magician has an ordinary deck of playing cards. (Ace (1) through King (13), of 4 suits,

52 cards total) He gives them to his subject, turns his back, and has her shuffle the deck

thoroughly.

Keeping his back to her so he can’t see what she’s doing, he then tells her to make

some piles according to these instructions.

1) First, she must turn over the top card. If this card is a face card (Jack, Queen, or

King), she must put the card back in the deck. If the card is a Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,

8, 9, or 10, then she should place that card on the table face up.

2) Beginning with the number on that card, she should count to herself until she

gets to 12. With each new number, she should deal one card on top of the pile

she has started. For example, if the top card was a 8, she would start her count

at 8. The next card will be “9”, 3nd card “10”, 4rd card “11”, and stop after dealing

the 5th card into the pile.

3) Once the pile is complete, repeat steps 1 and 2 until all the cards have been

dealt. If she runs out of cards while trying to complete a pile, she shall pick up the

cards of the incomplete pile.

The subject follows the instructions perfectly and hands the cards from her incomplete pile

She gives him five cards, but does not look at which cards they are. He also sees that

she has made six complete piles.

He then tells her to take the top card from each pile and add up the numerical values of

the cards together.

Before she could tell him the sum the magician already said the sum out loud, and being

a good magician, it was correct. . What was the sum and how did you figure that out?

Honors Question: What is the smallest sum and the largest sum if you were to remain with 5

cards in your hand at the end? (Can be as many or as few piles as possible.)

Rubric:

Self-Grade Points
Problem Statement: The problem statement should be a condensed
version of what the problem says in your own words. You should be
able to give this to another teacher and they should have an idea of /2
what you are trying to solve. This should also include some sort of
mathematical language.
Process/Work: This section is the bulk of the write up. This should
clearly describe all of the methods that you tried in detail. If a method
was unsuccessful, what did you learn from it and how did it shape your
approach? This should show your method from the start to finish
whether or not you were able to find a solution. If you received
assistance, describe how it helped (or didn’t help) you and what ideas
/4
or methods resulted from this assistance. This is for you to show me
your thinking and the direction that you went with the problem. Does
not need to include who you got assistance from, exactly what you did,
but should be mathematically what you solved and why.
Solution: Clearly state your answer. State your solution as a sentence
that states what you solved and what the answer is.
/2
Evaluation: Describe your work on the POW. What did you learn
about while working through this POW, How did this assist your /2
abilities to problem solve outside of PreCalculus class.
/10
The sum of the top cards of the six complete piles would always equal to 91.
This is because the sum of all cards from Ace to 10 is 55, and the sum of 5 cards numbered
from 1 to 12 would be 55 as well (1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 + 10 + 11 + 12 = 78, and 78 -
23 = 55).
Since the subject has 52 cards and has completed 6 piles, she still has 52 - 6 * 5 = 12 cards left.
Therefore, the total sum of the top cards of the six piles and the twelve remaining cards would
be 55 + 12 = 67.
So, the sum of the top cards of the six piles would be 67 - 12 = 55.
Finally, the sum of the top 5 cards would be the smallest if they are the first five cards (1, 2, 3, 4,
5), and the largest if they are the last five cards (8, 9, 10, 11, 12), which would be 15 and 40
respectively.

Problem Statement:
The problem involves a deck of 52 playing cards, with each card numbered from 1 to 12. The
goal is to find the sum of the top cards of six complete piles made from the deck.

Process/Work:

The sum of all cards from Ace to 10 is 55, and the sum of 5 cards numbered from 1 to 12 would
also be 55.
If the subject has 52 cards and has completed 6 piles, she will still have 52 - 6 * 5 = 12 cards
left.
The total sum of the top cards of the six piles and the twelve remaining cards would be 55 + 12
= 67.
Therefore, the sum of the top cards of the six piles would be 67 - 12 = 55.
The sum of the top 5 cards would be the smallest if they are the first five cards (1, 2, 3, 4, 5),
and the largest if they are the last five cards (8, 9, 10, 11, 12), which would be 15 and 40
respectively.
Solution:
The sum of the top cards of the six complete piles is 55, with the smallest sum of the top 5 cards
being 15 and the largest sum being 40.