Seven pennies are put into a little box, all of different date. A random person from the audience is asked to take one, and pass it around, everyone taking note of the date and the general appearance. After the last person examines the penny, she returns it to the box. Putting your hand into the container,
you surprise everyone with your magic skills by picking out the correct penny. How is this possible? (without any special props, sleight of hand, or “tricks”?)
If you can figure it out, you can enter your answer below. Will keep submissions masked until Wednesday,thanks.
It would be the only one that is warm from hand contact.
Pick the penny that feels warm.
The coin is warm?
Perhaps you felt to see which penny was the warmest(least cold) as it was held by so many hands….
It would be the warmest penny in the box…from all the handling…
How about the warmth of the penny? Since it has been handled by everyone in the audience it’s bound to be warm to the touch, unlike the others that haven’t been handled at all.
You took out the one that was warm!
The correct penny is warm since everyone in the audience touched it.
The penny will be warmer than the rest.
Well the six other pennies left in the box are colder than the one everyone touched. You take the “warmer” one and you’re on the go.
The pennies are:
An Australian penny,
A British pre-decimal system penny,
A British post-decimal penny,
A Canadian penny,
An Irish pre-decimal penny,
An Irish post-decimal penny,
An American penny
Each has different weights, sizes and designs, making finding them by feel very easy. They’re all genuine and so there aren’t any real “tricks”…
Or did I just make it too complicated? :-)
After that much passing around, the penny should be warmer than the others (if you have a sensitive touch).
the one that was passed around will be warmer than the others
It would of course be warmer than all of the other pennies, assuming that they all began at room temperature, which seems a reasonable assumption.
After passing around the coin, it would be slightly warmer than the rest of the coins in the container.
So one can just pick, from the stack of coins, the coin that is warmer than the rest to get the correct penny.
The correct penny will be warmer after all that handling.
Personally, I’d try to pick the warm penny, since copper is a good conductor of heat (from the hands of the audience).
The penny passed around will be warm compared to other pennies which is inside the hat.
So when taking out the penny pick the penny which is warm.
I would pick the warm coin.
I guess it will be warmer than the others, as so many people toucheed it
Does the last person have to be a she?
I am not sure by what props mean.
Does “everyone taking note of the date and appearance” include me?
Can we see the inside of the box?
The coins could be covered with ice on one side. The audience will make the ice melt on the chosen coin. Or the coins’ temperature could be low in the container.
Can the pennies be of different size or color (perhaps from different countries, or just color coated)?
Can the container be a cylinder where the coins get stacked (last in has to be on the top)?
The penny everyone has been handling will be warmer than the rest, therefore, you pick up the warmest penny.
The correct penny will be warm from everyone touching it.
copper is a good conductor,but several other interesting ways (Hex & DenitaTwoDragons) to accomplish the same end are also listed above
LOL! I didn’t even think about the warmth of the penny… :-)
Thermoception or thermoreception is the sense by which an organism perceives temperature.
How small can the temperature difference be and remain detectable by the sense of touch?
I doubt the audience warming the penny would work in hot weather
My version of the warming effect (the coins’ temperature could be low in the container) is more plausible.