Chocolate quiz

A friend of mine sent me this little quiz by the email. I've got no idea where the idea came from but it is clever none the less.

"Subject: CHOCOLATE MATHEMATICS

DON'T CHEAT BY SCROLLING DOWN FIRST!

It takes less than a minute.......

Work this out as you read.

Be sure you don't read the bottom until you've worked
it out! This is not one of those waste of time things,
it's fun.

1. First of all, pick the number of times a week that
you would like to have chocolate. (try for more than
once but less than 10)

2. Multiply this number by 2 (Just to be bold)

3.. Add 5. (for Sunday)

4. Multiply it by 50 I'll wait while you get the
calculator................

5. If you have already had your birthday this year
add 1754.... If you haven't, add 1753 ......

6. Now subtract the four digit year that you were
born.

You should have a three digit number .
The first digit of this was your original number
(i.e., how many times you want to have chocolate each
week).

The next two numbers are .......

YOUR AGE! ~ ( Oh YES, it IS!!!!! )

THIS IS THE ONLY YEAR IT WILL EVER WORK, SO
SPREAD IT AROUND WHILE IT LASTS"

Edit for 2005: Now that it is 2005 the above calcutions do not give the right answer. If you change step 5 to: "If you have already had your birthday this year add 1755.... If you haven't, add 1754" it works correctly.

Comments

[Chris Gibson]

That was a little scary...

[Tvindy]

If I had chosen to eat chocolate less frequently, would I be younger?

[elspeth]

Yikes *hides calculator* forgot im that old LOL

[Marie]

That is wild!

[Coup de Vent]

Great fun! I've posted a link.

[bec]

wow how freeky is that. brilliant

[kyte]

Hmmmm. didnt quite work for me (yeah i know I am months late, only just discovered this blog)... please check my math..

I chose 1(one) as the initial number..it did not say you HAD to choose more than 1. I already had my birthday, and I was born in 1950. Perhaps I am thick but I got a final result of 2054. Subtract 1950 from that = 104. yes, one(1) was the first number. But I promise faithfully that I am not 4.

In fact, you need to choose ANY number other than 1 for it to work. It even works with 789 -- I tried it -- err -- not saying I want chocolate that often -- really -- I'm not...

[Geoff]

Kyte, My first reaction is to suspect you of perhaps not being completely honest, as I am sure you could manage chocolate more than once per week. However I thought I'd better check the math as suggested so I wound back the clock to try to remember some high school algebra and came up with the following.
If x is the number first mentioned then the formula for the final answer is:
(2x+5)*50+1754-y (where y is year of birth). Since your age is (at present) the difference between y and 2004 that converts to:
(2x+5)*50+1754-2004+a (a is your age). This translates to:
2x*50+5*50+1754-2004+a which is equivalent to:
100x +250 +1754 -2004 +a which reduces to:
100x + a.
Therefore as long as your age is only 2 digits those digits will be the final 2 digits of the answer, no matter what x is, even zero should work.

[kyte]

It doesnt matter which way I do it (and I admit to be utterly useless at maths), I can get my age by choosing any number except 1 (and pretend its still 2004--Happy New Year!)

I cheat by using a calculator. but if i only want choc once a week (and really.. erm...) then I am 4 years old. well... 04 to be precise.

[Geoff]

Ok, Kyte, you were born in 1950 and want chocolate once per week.
1. First of all, pick the number of times a week that
you would like to have chocolate. (try for more than
once but less than 10) ............1

2. Multiply this number by 2 (Just to be bold)
............2

3.. Add 5. (for Sunday)
............7

4. Multiply it by 50 I'll wait while you get the
calculator............350

5. If you have already had your birthday this year
add 1754.... If you haven't, add 1753 ......
.....................2104

6. Now subtract the four digit year that you were
born.
.....................2104-1950=154

You should have a three digit number .
The first digit of this was your original number
(i.e., how many times you want to have chocolate each
week).

The next two numbers are .......

[Me]

by the way this year is 2005 and this now doesnt work because im 14 and it says im 13!

[Geoff]

Thanks for pointing this out. 2005 requires a slight alteration so I've added a note to the original post.

[lucy]

freaky weaky

[Brina]

It worked the first time but when i chose a higher number i became younger