Yes, it's true: If you are old enough to do mathematics and you like chocolate, you might be able to figure out your age. By crunching these numbers (including the weekly frequency of your preference for chocolate), your age is mathematically revealed. It's a nifty trick for kids learning basic mathematics, who can practice it on adults and elicit reactions of surprise and amusement. Try it out to see for yourself, and then read on to find out how it works.
Steps
- Determine how many times a week you eat or want chocolate. It must be a number between 1 and 10, including 1 or 10.
- Multiply that number by 2.
- Add 5 to the previous result.
- Multiply that by 50.
- Add the current year (Gregorian).
- Subtract 250 if you've had a birthday this year. If you haven't had a birthday this year, subtract 251.
- Let's say your birthday hasn't passed yet.
- 3057 - 251 = 2806
- Subtract your birth year.
- Assuming you were born in 1975...
- 2806 - 1975 = 831
- You'll end up with a 3 or 4 digit number. The last two digits are your age (if you're under 10 years old there will be a zero before your age). The remaining one or two digits will be the number of times per week you eat or want chocolate (the number you specified in the first step).
Why it works
- This really does work for anybody from 1 to 99 years old, although the chocolate part is just for fun (an added distraction). Here's how the mathematics work.
- Select a number between 1 and 10. Multiply by 2, add 5, multiply by 50. These steps are just a fancy way to push your (or your assistant's) random number out into the hundreds place. Here is what you'll get for all possible selections:
| 1 | 350 |
| 2 | 450 |
| 3 | 550 |
| 4 | 650 |
| 5 | 750 |
| 6 | 850 |
| 7 | 950 |
| 8 | 1050 |
| 9 | 1150 |
| 10 | 1250 |
- Add the current Gregorian year (2007):
| 1 | 2357 |
| 2 | 2457 |
| 3 | 2557 |
| 4 | 2657 |
| 5 | 2757 |
| 6 | 2857 |
| 7 | 2957 |
| 8 | 3057 |
| 9 | 3157 |
| 10 | 3257 |
- Subtract 250 (or 251 if your birthday hasn't happened yet this year). This yields the year of your last birthday (2006 or 2007) plus 100 times your chosen number:
| 1 | 2106 |
| 2 | 2206 |
| 3 | 2306 |
| 4 | 2406 |
| 5 | 2506 |
| 6 | 2606 |
| 7 | 2706 |
| 8 | 2806 |
| 9 | 2906 |
| 10 | 3006 |
- Subtract the year of your birth and get your age plus 100 times your chosen number. Put another way:
- (Year of your last birthday + (100 x your chosen number)) - Year of your birth = Your age + (100 x your chosen number)
Warnings
- This will not work consistently for people who are 100 years old or older.
- Your friends may think you are strange for playing this game as it requires inputting information from their date of birth into the equation.
