The magician displays an 8 by 8 inch square marked in one inch squares. With 8 inches on each side the total area is 8x8 or 64 square inches. He then divides the square into four pieces and rearranges them into a rectangle measuring 5 by 13 inches, or 65 square inches. Where did the extra square come from?
Draw a square like the one above and cut
along the red lines. For large group showing the drawing should be made on heavy paper or
thin cardboard. Glue a scrap of flannel on the back so that the pieces can be arranged on
a flannel board. Rearrrange as in the picture below.
When the pieces are rearranged they don't fit together perfectly. Each of the squares along the diagonal is a little bit smaller than one square inch and there is a long narrow space between the pieces (colored green in the picture below) that actually measures precisely one square inch.
The following is one message you can use with this effect and involves
revealing the answer to the puzzle. You may want to devise other applications that keep
the answer secret.
(Show the pieces arranged in a square)I have a big square here that is marked off into
smaller squares. Now there are eight squares on each side, so how many squares are there
altogether? (Note: Third or fourth graders should know that 8x8=64. If your audience is
younger than that age, this trick will not be understood.) That's right, 8 times 8 is 64.
Now, let's take the pieces and rearrange them like this (arrange as in the second
picture). Now we have a rectangle that's 5 squares high and 13 across. How many does that
make? 5 time 13 is 65! We've made an extra square by just rearranging the pieces! How
could that happen? (Let the audience offer guesses as to how it might work, then
continue).
We really know that the pieces are the same size now as they were before, but it sure
seems like we just got something for nothing. But the laws of nature and the laws of
arithmetic tell us that what looks like getting a extra square is really just a
trick. Sometimes people think they can get around God's laws and not suffer any
consequences. They might tell a 'little' lie, or sneak out some small item without paying
for it. It might be cheating a little on a test, or trying drugs "just once".
And it might even look like they get away with it, just like it looks like we got an extra
square here. But God's spiritual laws can't be broken any more than the laws of nature
can. If you look closely at this rectangle, you'll see a little bit of empty space between
these pieces. That extra square that you thought was there is only emptiness. And if we
try to break God's laws, emptiness is all we get. But the Good News is that by following
God's plan, we can have all the fullness of life that He created us for. Not by our own
trickery, by by His generosity and Love.