How to resolve the algorithm Mind boggling card trick step by step in the Ruby programming language

Published on 12 May 2024 09:40 PM

How to resolve the algorithm Mind boggling card trick step by step in the Ruby programming language

Table of Contents

Problem Statement

Matt Parker of the "Stand Up Maths channel" has a   YouTube video   of a card trick that creates a semblance of order from chaos. The task is to simulate the trick in a way that mimics the steps shown in the video.

(Optionally, run this simulation a number of times, gathering more evidence of the truthfulness of the assertion.) Show output on this page.

Let's start with the solution:

Step by Step solution about How to resolve the algorithm Mind boggling card trick step by step in the Ruby programming language

The provided Ruby code simulates a magic trick involving two piles of cards, one with black cards and the other with red cards. Here's a detailed explanation of the code:

  1. Deck Initialization:

    • deck = ([:black, :red] * 26 ).shuffle: This line creates a deck of 52 cards by duplicating a list of black and red suits 26 times and then shuffling it.
  2. Initialization of Piles and Discard:

    • black_pile, red_pile, discard = [], [], []: This line initializes three empty arrays for the black pile, red pile, and discard pile.
  3. Main Loop:

    • until deck.empty? do: This loop runs until the deck is empty.
    • discard << deck.pop: Pops the top card from the deck and adds it to the discard pile.
    • discard.last == :black ? black_pile << deck.pop : red_pile << deck.pop: Depending on whether the last card in the discard pile is black or red, a new card is popped from the deck and added to the corresponding pile.
  4. Random Selection:

    • x = rand( [black_pile.size, red_pile.size].min ): This line selects a random number (x) within the range of the smaller of the sizes of the black pile and the red pile. This number represents the number of cards that will be moved between the piles.
  5. Moving Cards:

    • red_bunch = x.times.map{ red_pile.delete_at( rand( red_pile.size )) }: This line creates an array (red_bunch) by removing x random cards from the red pile.
    • black_bunch = x.times.map{ black_pile.delete_at( rand( black_pile.size )) }: Similarly, this line creates an array (black_bunch) by removing x random cards from the black pile.
  6. Combining Piles:

    • black_pile += red_bunch: The cards in red_bunch are added to the black pile.
    • red_pile += black_bunch: The cards in black_bunch are added to the red pile.
  7. Prediction and Revelation:

    • puts "The magician predicts there will be #{black_pile.count( :black )} red cards in the other pile. Drumroll...": The code prints a prediction based on the number of black cards in the black pile.
    • puts "There were #{red_pile.count( :red )}!": Finally, the code prints the actual number of red cards in the red pile.

Source code in the ruby programming language

deck = ([:black, :red] * 26 ).shuffle
black_pile, red_pile, discard = [], [], []

until deck.empty? do
  discard << deck.pop
  discard.last == :black ? black_pile << deck.pop : red_pile << deck.pop
end

x = rand( [black_pile.size, red_pile.size].min )

red_bunch   = x.times.map{ red_pile.delete_at( rand( red_pile.size )) }
black_bunch = x.times.map{ black_pile.delete_at( rand( black_pile.size )) }

black_pile += red_bunch
red_pile   += black_bunch

puts "The magician predicts there will be #{black_pile.count( :black )} red cards in the other pile.
Drumroll...
There were #{red_pile.count( :red )}!"


  

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