TEN WAYS TO WIN WITH COINS AND NOTES
AMAZING FACTS ABOUT MONEY
• Banknotes first appeared in China during the Tang Dynasty (ad 618–907), more than 500 years before they were used in Europe.
• In times gone by, criminals shaved the edges off coins and sold the metal, and the ridges around the rims of coins were originally created to prevent such practices.
• It costs the American mint 1.5 cents to manufacture a one-cent coin.
• In 2002, researchers found faecal matter on 94 per cent of dollar bills tested. Paper money can carry more germs than a toilet, and the flu virus can live on a banknote for up to seventeen days.
• In 1978, Space Invaders became so popular in Japan that there was a nationwide shortage of the 100-yen coins needed to play the game.
THE BANG BANG BOTTLE
Place a banknote on a table and then balance a bottle on top of it like this.
Bet your friend that you can remove the banknote without touching or knocking over the bottle. To win the bet, simply make one of your hands into a fist and hold the end of the banknote with your other hand.
When you knock your fist on the table the bottle will jump, just a little, into the air. At that exact moment, use your other hand to slide the banknote out from under the bottle!
THE PENNY STACK
Place a small coin on a smooth table and then stack several larger coins on top of it.
Next, challenge your friend to remove the small coin, but without touching the larger ones. To win the bet, find another small coin and quickly flick it along the table so that it hits the small coin at the bottom of the stack. The small coin under the stack will shoot out from under the larger coins, and then you can simply pick it up!
The seventeenth-century scientist Sir Isaac Newton spent much of his time watching objects move, and eventually came up with his now-famous laws of motion. The Penny Stack uses Isaac’s first law, which states that stationary objects remain where they are unless a force acts on them. Isaac called this ‘inertia’, and he used it to explain why people struggle to get out of a warm bed on a winter’s morning (I made that last bit up). The small coin shoots out of the stack because of the force delivered during the collision. However, the other coins in the stack remain where they are because of their inertia, and simply drop down onto the coin that was flicked along the table.
Although Newton is best known for his scientific achievements, he was also a lifelong alchemist and spent much of his time searching for the philosopher’s stone – a legendary substance thought to have the power to transform lead into gold. Unfortunately, this work was literally to be the death of him. Newton’s alchemical pursuits involved distilling mercury, and a recent analysis of his hair samples revealed very high levels of this dangerous chemical, suggesting that Newton may have died from mercury poisoning.
A BRIDGING LOAN
Place a banknote on the table and tell your friend that they can have the money if they win the bet. Next, place two large glasses, a smaller glass and some matches on the table. Now challenge your friend to use the objects on the table to support the smaller glass between the larger glasses.
In fact, the matches are just decoys, and to win the bet you have to use the banknote! Simply accordion-pleat the banknote along its length, place it between the larger glasses like a bridge, stand the smaller glass on top of the banknote, and you have won the bet.
The banknote supports the weight of the glass because the pleating increases its strength. The same idea was used in one of the world’s greatest inventions – the corrugated cardboard box. This amazing creation dates back to 1856, when English top hat salesman Edward Allen wanted to keep his hats in shape. Inspired by sixteenth-century ruffled lace collars, Allen created pleated paper and placed it inside his hats.
In 1871, New Yorker Albert Jones obtained an American patent for the same idea, and within a few years other inventors had increased the strength of the pleated paper even further by gluing it between two sheets of cardboard. Around the turn of the last century the first corrugated cardboard boxes began to roll off American production lines. The manufacturers quickly realized that they had nothing to pack the boxes in and so started to produce even bigger boxes. Over the years the rapid rise in shipped goods has created a near insatiable need for boxes, with some economists arguing that the global economy simply couldn’t thrive without the corrugated cardboard box. And all because a man once wanted to keep his top hats in tip-top condition.
THE COIN SLIDE
Balance two coins on the edge of a glass and challenge your friend to lift the glass. Oh, and they are only allowed to touch the coins!
To win the bet, place your first finger and thumb on the coins, quickly move them down the sides of the glass, and then you can lift up the glass holding just the coins.
LIVING ON THE EDGE
Challenge your friend to balance a small coin on the edge of a banknote. When they give up, first fold the banknote into a ‘V’ shape and balance the coin on the ‘V’.
Next, slowly pull the ends of the banknote. Amazingly, the coin will end up balanced on the edge of the banknote!
This bet is much easier if you use a crisp, fresh note.
When you pull the ends of the note, take your time and don’t sneeze.
I’LL HUFF AND I’LL PUFF
Place a playing card on a glass, put a tube of paper on the playing card, and finally balance a coin on top of the tube. Now challenge your friend to move the coin into the glass, but without touching the playing card, the tube or the coin.
When your friend gives up, simply blow upwards under the playing card – the tube and the playing card will fly away and the coin will drop into the glass.
INFLATION
Place five or six pennies on a table and balance another penny on its edge. Ask your friend how many pennies you will need to stack up to reach the height of the upright penny.
They might guess five or six. You will win the bet because the answer is an amazing twelve coins!
IN CREDIT
Pour some water into a glass and then balance a credit card on the edge of the glass like this. Next, challenge your friend to balance some coins on the overhanging end of the credit card.
They will fail because the credit card will fall off the glass. To win the bet, completely fill the glass with water and then place the credit card on top of the glass. The credit card will stick to the surface of the water and you will find that you can place several coins on the overhanging end of the credit card.
Water molecules are attracted to one another. However, the molecules on the surface of the water have air above them and so have fewer molecules to cling to. As a result, they develop especially strong bonds with the other molecules around them, and the resulting cohesion creates surface tension. When the credit card is first placed on the water it rests on top because of this surface tension. Then, when the credit card and water come into contact, the two very different types of molecules are attracted to one another and this adhesion stops the credit card moving away from the water.
GETTING DICEY
Place a coin between two dice like this.
Hand your friend a pen, and challenge them to use the pen to remove the coin and leave the dice stacked. However, they are only allowed to touch the coin with the pen. When they give up, press the button on the top of the pen, but don’t release it. Next, place the end of the button close to the edge of the coin. Finally, release the button! It will spring out and knock the coin out from between the dice.
JUST ONE FINGER
Place a banknote on the top of a bottle and then place some coins on top of the banknote like this.
Challenge your friend to remove the note but leave the coins in place, and explain that they can only use one finger. The secret is simple. Lick your first finger so that it has some saliva on it. Next, raise your hand and, as you bring it down, strike the overhanging banknote with your finger. The banknote will stick to the licked finger and whip out from beneath the coins.
Why do you have to lick your finger for the bet to work? Your body naturally produces oils that prevent your skin from drying out. This oil makes your fingers relatively smooth, and so during the bet you run the risk of just brushing against the banknote rather than pulling it out from under the coins. However, add a small amount of sticky saliva to your finger and the extra friction ensures that the banknote is whipped away every time.