# Gergonne's Card Trick, Positional Notation, and Radix Sort

• Published in 2017
In the collections
Gergonne's three pile card trick has been a favorite of mathematicians for nearly two centuries. This new exposition uses the radix sorting algorithm well known to computer scientists to explain why the trick works, and to explore generalizations. The presentation suggests strategies for introducing the trick and base three arithmetic to elementary school students.

## Comment

This is the "Ace of Base Three" card trick

### BibTeX entry

@article{GergonnesCardTrickPositionalNotationandRadixSort,
title = {Gergonne's Card Trick, Positional Notation, and Radix Sort},
author = {Ethan D. Bolker},
url = {https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.4169/002557010X479983 https://www.maa.org/sites/default/files/Bolker-MMz-201053228.pdf},
urldate = {2020-05-30},
year = 2017,
abstract = {Gergonne's three pile card trick has been a favorite of mathematicians for nearly two centuries. This new exposition uses the radix sorting algorithm well known to computer scientists to explain why the trick works, and to explore generalizations. The presentation suggests strategies for introducing the trick and base three arithmetic to elementary school students.},
comment = {This is the "Ace of Base Three" card trick},
collections = {easily-explained,fun-maths-facts}
}