f a cu lty of science MATH 895-4 Fall 2010

d epa r tm ent of m athema tic s Course Schedule

L ECTURE 26 T HE B EST C ARD T RICK

Week Date Sections Part/ References Topic/Sections Notes/Speaker

from FS2009

1 Sept 7 I.1, I.2, I.3 Combinatorial Symbolic methods

Lecture 26:
2 14 I.4, I.5, I.6
Structures
FS: Part A.1, A.2
Unlabelled structures
Comtet74
The Best Card Trick
3 21 II.1, II.2, II.3
Handout #1
(self study)
Labelled structures I

4 28 II.4, II.5, II.6 Labelled structures II

Combinatorial Combinatorial
5 Oct 5 III.1, III.2 Asst #1 Due
parameters Parameters
Contents FS A.III
6 12 IV.1, IV.2 (self-study) Multivariable GFs

7 19
26.1 HowIV.3,
toIV.4 Analytic
Perform Best CardComplex
theMethods TrickAnalysis
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
FS: Part B: IV, V, VI
8 26 Singularity Analysis
Appendix B4
26.2 Exercises
IV.5 V.1 . . . . . . . . .
Stanley 99: Ch. 6
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
9 Nov 2 Asst #2 Due
Handout #1 Asymptotic methods
9 VI.1 (self-study) Sophie
10
12 A.3/ C Introduction to Prob. Mariolys

You
18 areIX.1about to pull off the most amazing
Limit card Marni
Laws and Comb trick... The audience draws 5 cards from the deck
11
and
20 gives
IX.2 them to the volunteer
Random Structures who, in turn,
Discrete Limit Laws shows you four of the five cards, say:
Sophie
and Limit Laws
FS: Part C Combinatorial
23 IX.3 4, K,Mariolys
4, 5.
(rotating instances of discrete
12
presentations)
25
After aIX.4 Continuous Limit Laws Marni
dramatic moment of reading the volunteers mind, and the minds of the audience members,
you reveal that the fifth card, Quasi-Powers
the one thatand was hidden from you, must be the 9. The audience
13 30 IX.5 Sophie
Gaussian limit laws
gasps... How could this be?1
14 Dec 10 Presentations Asst #3 Due

26.1 How to Perform the Best Card Trick

You could come up with some story about how the first four cards were shown to you in order to allow you
to tune into your volunteers mind, thus allowing you to read the fifth card. Or explain that you are having
trouble reading his/her mind so you need the entire audience to concentrate on the fifth card. Of course all
this is all just for show. The fact is, your volunteer is actually your accomplice and he/she passed you enough
information to determine the final card. There is no element of chance here, your accomplice simply encoded
theMarni
Dr. value of the
MISHNA, last ofcard
Department in the
Mathematics, firstFRASER
SIMON four UNIVERSITY
cards. This begs the question: How did they do this?
Version of: 11-Dec-09
Lets first describe the standard deck of playing cards. There are four suits: clubs , diamonds , hearts
, and spades . Within each suit there are 13 ranks: (A)ce, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, (J)ack, (Q)ueen, (K)ing.
It will be convenient for us to think of Ace = 1, Jack = 11, Queen = 12, and King = 13. In card jargon we are
considering Aces to be low, by which we mean the Ace is the lowest ranking card. There are 4 13 = 52 cards
in all. See Figure 1 for some examples.

(a) 5 of (b) Jack of (c) Queen (d) King of

Hearts. clubs. of Dia- Spades.
monds.

Figure 1: Examples of names of playing cards.

1 See original article by Michael Kleber in Mathematical Intelligencer 24 #1, 2002

Jamie Mulholland, Spring 2011 26-1

Math 302
 f a cu lty of science MATH 895-4 Fall 2010
d epa r tm ent of m athema tic s Course Schedule
L ECTURE 26 T HE B EST C ARD T RICK

Week Date Sections Part/ References Topic/Sections Notes/Speaker

Why are fivefrom cardsFS2009necessary for the trick? Given a collection of five cards from the deck there must be two
of 1the Sept
same suit
7 I.1, (this is known in mathematics
I.2, I.3 Symbolic methodsas the pigeonhole principle). Let A and B be two cards of the
Combinatorial
same suit. One of these cards will be taken as the fifth card, i.e. the hidden card. The other card will be shown
Structures
2 14 I.4, I.5, I.6 Unlabelled structures
first, thus communicating FS: Partthe
A.1, A.2
suit of the hidden card. All that remains now is to communicate the rank of the
Comtet74
3 21
hidden card.II.1, II.2, II.3 Handout #1 Labelled structures I
(self study)
4 28 II.4, II.5, II.6 Labelled structures II
Once the suit is known there are 12 possibilities for the rank (since the hidden card is certainly not the one
Combinatorial Combinatorial
that
5 was
Oct 5 just
III.1,shown
III.2 to you). How can
parameters
the remainingAsst
Parameters
cards
3 #1 Due be arranged to communicate the rank? Since
there are 6 ways to arrange FS A.III 3 objects we can communicate a number from 1 to 6 with the remaining 3 cards.
6 12 IV.1, IV.2 (self-study) Multivariable GFs
This doesnt seem to be enough information.
7 19 IV.3, IV.4
Analytic Methods Complex Analysis
Does it matter which of FS:the two
Part B: IV, V,cards,
VI A and B, of the same suit, is shown and which is hidden? Yes, it does (to
8 26 Singularity Analysis
do the trick IV.5 the wayAppendix
in V.1 B4
we describe). Lets define the distance, dist, between two cards of the same suit using
Stanley 99: Ch. 6
the9 following
Nov 2 diagram:Handout #1 Asymptotic methods
Asst #2 Due

9 VI.1 (self-study) Sophie

10
12 A.3/ C Introduction to Prob. Mariolys

18 IX.1 Limit Laws and Comb Marni

11
20 IX.2 Random Structures Discrete Limit Laws Sophie
and Limit Laws
FS: Part C Combinatorial
23 IX.3 Mariolys
(rotating instances of discrete
12
presentations)
25 IX.4 Continuous Limit Laws Marni

Quasi-Powers and
13 30 IX.5 Sophie
Gaussian limit laws
Figure
14
2: The distance between
Dec 10
card ranks is the number
Presentations
of steps it takes to move from one rank to the next in the
Asst #3 Due
clockwise direction.

For example, dist(3, 6) = 3, dist(8, J) = 3, dist(Q, 5) = 6, dist(A, 8) = 7. Notice that dist(6, 3) = 10, which is not
the same as dist(3, 6) = 3. So the distance function is not symmetric in its arguments. However, we do have
dist(a, b) = 13 dist(b, a), for any two ranks a, b. It follows that for any two ranks a, b (i.e. two cards of the
same suit) that either dist(a, b) or dist(b, a) is less than or equal to 6. If dist(a, b) 6 then we say a is smaller
than b.
So,Marni
Dr. back to the
MISHNA, two cards
Department We FRASER
A, B.SIMON
of Mathematics, will show the performer the smaller
UNIVERSITY of the two cards and hide the larger.
Version of: 11-Dec-09
The larger card (i.e. the hidden card) will be at distance at most 6 from the smaller card and we can use the
remaining 3 cards to communicate this distance.
All that remains now is to assign numbers 1 through 6 to arrangements of three objects. We will use the
playing cards natural ordering (from smallest to largest):

A < A < A < A < 2 < 2 < 2 < 2 < 3 < 3 < 3 < 3 < 4 < 4 < 4 < 4 < . . .

. . . < 10 < 10 < 10 < 10 < J < J < J < J < Q < Q < Q < Q < K < K < K < K.

That is, cards are first ordered by rank: A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, and ties are broken using the suit
ordering: < < < (i.e. alphabetic in first letter of name: (C)lub, (D)iamond, (H)eart, (S)pade). Given
three cards, say a, b, c, where a < b < c, we can list the six arrangements lexicographically (dictionary order)
and assign numbers as follows:

abc = 1
acb = 2
bac = 3
bca = 4
cab = 5
cba = 6.

Jamie Mulholland, Spring 2011 26-2

Math 302
 f a cu lty of science MATH 895-4 Fall 2010
d epa r tm ent of m athema tic s Course Schedule
L ECTURE 26 T HE B EST C ARD T RICK

Week Date Sections Part/ References Topic/Sections Notes/Speaker

For example,from
the three cards 4, 5, K, have the following arrangements numbers (since 4 < 5 < K).
FS2009

1 Sept 7 I.1, I.2, I.3 Combinatorial Symbolic methods

Structures
4 5 K = 1, structures
4 K 5 = 2, 5 4 K = 3,
2 14 I.4, I.5, I.6 Unlabelled
FS: Part A.1, A.2
Comtet74 K 4
5 = 4, K 4 5 = 5, K 5 4 = 6.
3 21 II.1, II.2, II.3 Labelled structures I
Handout #1
(self study)
4 28 II.4, II.5, II.6 Labelled structures II
Since the three cards had distinct ranks we dont need to look at the suit to break ties, since there will be no
Combinatorial Combinatorial
5 toOct
ties 5 III.1,
break. ForIII.2 an example with ties see Exercise 2(c).
Asst #1 Due
parameters Parameters
FS A.III
Now
6 we
12 can IV.1,
layIV.2out the(self-study) Multivariable GFs the trick. We use the term Accomplice to refer to the one who
procedure for performing
knows
7 all
19 five cards,
IV.3, IV.4 and Performer for the one
Complex attempting to guess the hidden card.
Analysis
Analytic Methods
FS: Part B: IV, V, VI
Procedure:
8 26
Appendix B4
Singularity Analysis
IV.5 V.1
Stanley 99: Ch. 6
9 Nov 2
Accomplice: Asst #2 Due
Handout #1 Asymptotic methods
9 VI.1 (self-study) Sophie
(1)
10 The audience select five cards at random. Let s1 , s2 , r1 , r2 , r3 be the five cards drawn from the deck,
12 A.3/ C Introduction to Prob. Mariolys
where s1 and s2 have the same suit.
18 IX.1 Limit Laws and Comb Marni
11 Picks two of the same suit: s , s . (Note: there could be more than two cards of the same suit, just pick
(2)
20 IX.2 Random Structures1 2
Discrete Limit Laws Sophie
any two for s1 and 2 .) Laws
andsLimit
FS: Part C Combinatorial
23 IX.3 Mariolys
(rotating
12 Picks one as the hidden card: instances
of discrete
(3) presentations)
after re-labeling if necessary assume that s1 is smaller than s2 (i.e.
25
dist(s IX.4
,
1 2s ) 6). The hidden cardContinuous
will Limit
then Laws
be s2 .Marni

Quasi-Powers and
13 Arrange
(4) 30 IX.5the remaining 3 cards r , r , r to correspond
Sophie to the number dist(s , s ).
1Gaussian
2 limit
3 laws 1 2

14 Dec 10
(5) Reveal cards one at a Presentations
time. Reveal card s1 first,Asst #3 Due
then reveal the remaining cards in the order found in
Step (4).

Performer:
(1) Determines the hidden card: The first card s1 gives the suit of the hidden card and a place to start
counting (namely its rank). Determine the number (between 1 and 6) to which the arrangement of the
last 3 cards corresponds and add this to the rank of s1 , thus determining the hidden card s2 .
(2) Reveals the hidden card and waits for applause.
Dr. Marni MISHNA, Department of Mathematics, SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
Version of: 11-Dec-09
The Accomplice needs to be able to think fast since they need to arrange the cards rather quickly in order to
start revealing them one at a time. The Performer, however, can stall for time by drawing large copies of the
cards on the blackboard as they are revealed. This extra time will allow the Performer to work out the number
corresponding to the arrangement of the final three cards.
Warning: If the trick is performed a few times as outlined above the audience will pick up, rather quickly,
that the first card is the same suit as the hidden one. So you may want to mix up the position of the suit card
when performing the trick. It has been suggested to play the suit card in position i (mod 4) when performing
for the ith time.

Jamie Mulholland, Spring 2011 26-3

Math 302
 f a cu lty of science MATH 895-4 Fall 2010
d epa r tm ent of m athema tic s Course Schedule
L ECTURE 26 T HE B EST C ARD T RICK

Week Date Sections Part/ References Topic/Sections Notes/Speaker

26.2 Exercises
from FS2009

1 Sept 7 I.1, I.2, I.3 Combinatorial Symbolic methods

1. In each scenario Structures
below, five cards, which the audience has drawn, are given. Pick a card to hide and find
2 14 I.4, I.5, I.6 Unlabelled structures
an arrangement FS: of Part
theA.1, A.2
remaining four cards which determines the hidden card.
Comtet74
3 21 II.1, II.2, II.3 Labelled structures I
Handout #1
(self study)
4 28 II.4, II.5, II.6 Labelled structures II

Combinatorial Combinatorial
5 (a)5
Oct III.1, III.2
parameters Parameters
Asst #1 Due
FS A.III
6 12 IV.1, IV.2 (self-study) Multivariable GFs

7 19 IV.3, IV.4 Analytic Methods Complex Analysis

FS: Part B: IV, V, VI
8 26 Singularity Analysis
Appendix B4
IV.5 V.1
Stanley 99: Ch. 6
9 Nov
(b)2 Asst #2 Due
Handout #1 Asymptotic methods
9 VI.1 (self-study) Sophie
10
12 A.3/ C Introduction to Prob. Mariolys

18 IX.1 Limit Laws and Comb Marni

11
20 IX.2 Random Structures Discrete Limit Laws Sophie
(c) and Limit Laws
FS: Part C Combinatorial
23 IX.3 Mariolys
(rotating instances of discrete
12
presentations)
25 IX.4 Continuous Limit Laws Marni

2. Your
13 30
accomplice
IX.5
has presented you with the
Quasi-Powers and following arrangements of four cards. Determine the fifth
Sophie
Gaussian limit laws
card. You may assume the first card is the suit card.
14 Dec 10 Presentations Asst #3 Due

(a)

(b)
Dr. Marni MISHNA, Department of Mathematics, SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
Version of: 11-Dec-09

(c)

Jamie Mulholland, Spring 2011 26-4

Math 302
 f a cu lty of science MATH 895-4 Fall 2010
d epa r tm ent of m athema tic s Course Schedule
L ECTURE 26 T HE B EST C ARD T RICK

Week Date Sections Part/ References Topic/Sections Notes/Speaker

from FS2009
Solutions to Exercises:
1 Sept 7 I.1, I.2, I.3 Combinatorial Symbolic methods
1. (a) Hide the 9 and present the arrangement:
Structures
2 14 I.4, I.5, I.6 Unlabelled structures
FS: Part A.1, A.2
Comtet74
3 21 II.1, II.2, II.3 Labelled structures I
Handout #1
(self study)
4 28 II.4, II.5, II.6 Labelled structures II

Combinatorial Combinatorial
5 Oct 5 III.1, III.2 Asst #1 Due
parameters Parameters
(b) Hide the K FS A.IIIpresent
and the arrangement:
6 12 IV.1, IV.2 (self-study) Multivariable GFs

7 19 IV.3, IV.4 Analytic Methods Complex Analysis

FS: Part B: IV, V, VI
8 26 Singularity Analysis
Appendix B4
IV.5 V.1
Stanley 99: Ch. 6
9 Nov 2 Asst #2 Due
Handout #1 Asymptotic methods
9 (c) There
VI.1 are (self-study)
three possible choices here: Sophie
10
12
(i)A.3/
hideC
the 5 and present: Introduction to Prob. Mariolys

18 IX.1 Limit Laws and Comb Marni

11
20 IX.2 Random Structures Discrete Limit Laws Sophie
and Limit Laws
FS: Part C Combinatorial
23 IX.3 Mariolys
(rotating instances of discrete
12
(ii) hide the presentations)
J and present:
25 IX.4 Continuous Limit Laws Marni

Quasi-Powers and
13 30 IX.5 Sophie
Gaussian limit laws

14 Dec 10 Presentations Asst #3 Due

(i) hide the 3 and present:

In this last case we need to use the suit ordering to break the tie between the two 5s: recall < .

Dr. Marni MISHNA, Department of Mathematics, SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

Version of: 11-Dec-09
2. (a) (b) (c)

Jamie Mulholland, Spring 2011 26-5

Math 302