Finger counting
Start counting on the fingers on one hand thusly: 1 thumb, 2 index finger, 3 middle finger, 4 ring finger, 5 little finger, 6 ring finger, 7middle finger, 8 index finger, 9 thumb and so on.
Which finger would you end up on if you were counting to 123456789? That over 123 million in case you think it's a trick question. Assume that you aren't carted of to the funny farm while doing it.
Which finger would you end up on if you were counting to 123456789? That over 123 million in case you think it's a trick question. Assume that you aren't carted of to the funny farm while doing it.
Labels: mathschallenge
posted by Chris at
7:39 AM
8 Comments:
middle finger
Nope. One down four to go.
Because of that, I want an explanation, not simply the finger.
Index and ring all end in even digits. Thumb ends in one greater than multiples of 8, but 123456788 is not a multiple of 8. Little ends in 3 less than multiples of 8 (here's where my first answer was wrong), 123456792 IS a multiple of 8. Thus, the answer is little finger.
I got "5 little finger"
Here's the beginning and end of the loop
1 1 thumb
2 2 Index finger
3 3 middle finger
4 4 ring finger
5 5 little finger
6 6 ringer finger
7 7 middle finger
8 8 Index finger
9 9 thumb
10 2 Index finger
11 3 middle finger
12 4 ring finger
13 5 little finger
14 6 ringer finger
15 7 middle finger
.
.
.
123456780 4 ring finger
123456781 5 little finger
123456782 6 ringer finger
123456783 7 middle finger
123456784 8 Index finger
123456785 9 thumb
123456786 2 Index finger
123456787 3 middle finger
123456788 4 ring finger
123456789 5 little finger
Sub counting()
Dim a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, t As String
Dim n As Double
a = "1 thumb"
b = "2 Index finger"
c = "3 middle finger"
d = "4 ring finger"
e = "5 little finger"
f = "6 ringer finger"
g = "7 middle finger"
h = "8 Index finger"
i = "9 thumb"
For n = 1 To 123456789
If n = 1 Then
t = a
Else
Select Case t
Case "1 thumb": t = b
Case "2 Index finger": t = c
Case "3 middle finger": t = d
Case "4 ring finger": t = e
Case "5 little finger": t = f
Case "6 ringer finger": t = g
Case "7 middle finger": t = h
Case "8 Index finger": t = i
Case "9 thumb": t = b
End Select
End If
If n <= 15 Then Debug.Print n; t
If n >= 123456780 Then Debug.Print n; t
Next n
End Sub
Well done everyone. I reckon it's the little finger too.
A complete cycle starting at thumb = 1 ends at thumb = 9. So you add 8 each time you return to the thumb. So you only need to deal with the remainder after dividing by 8. For 123456789 the remainder after dividing by 8 is 5 and that corresponds to the little finger.
Knightmare, you foolish fuel you; Ragknot's computer is ambidextrous. It's probably suffering from RSI as well.
I wondered how counting the thumb as both number 1 and number 9 might be confusing in the ToM post.
I thought about how to program this to work so the thumb is included twice. So I listed the values given in the post exactly.
Then all I need to do is program what came after what... Beginning with A=1 then choose what comes next.
The Select function works for the first occurrence, then it jumps to the End Select. Using IF would have complicated things.
You've got two thumbs on each hand!?#? So you have a left left thumb, a left right thumb, a right left thumb and a right right thumb. On the other hand (ouch) I now realise that your hands are probably interchangeable as well, that explains the other matter.
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