FoxTrot Classics by Bill Amend for February 02, 2011

^ NO! And I never had any either!!

( I know pi out to 20 places. That’s enough for anything I want to calculate. )

According to Wolfram/Alpha “c” would be the correct answer.

I think Isaac Azimov pointed out that taking pi out to 20 digits was was good enough to get the circumference of the universe within a centimeter or so.

Usually the first question on that show is a throwaway to the contestant, not the host. Example: A 1998 episode of Seinfeld heavily features a popular 1980s arcade game. Name that game. A)Frogger B)Pac-Man C)Space Invaders D)Donkey Kong

I doubt Roger will be doing much guessing tonight. There’s a 75% chance he’ll be eliminated on the first question.

When in doubt, go with C. Subconsciously, people think that hiding the correct answer in the middle is more deceptive as well as it is somewhat natural. One doesn’t want to make it A nor D because the ends just seem too obvious. Thus, C tends to be used the most and then B.

Some more experienced multi-choice quiz creators have found ways to better randomize the answer locations, but many still fall for the basic subconscious tendencies.

This probably ends in JASON winning a million

After I related the story of a high school friend who memorized pi to 100 places on a bet, my 9-year-old son has now memorized over 120 places! I can’t decide if I should be proud or concerned… ;)

Using 21 significant figures for pi won’t get the circumference of anything to a few millimeters unless you have the radius of that thing to a few millimeters also… at least not accurately.

@dbeasteros: I’m with you. From the start of this story line the game title “I Want to be a Millionaire” has always meant to me that “I” = “Jason”. As such, there will be no elimination, just checks from Roger’s checkbook for the amount of the question made out to Jason for every wrong answer.

>prfesser said, about 3 hours ago >The real trick is to give the correct answer in a way that looks wrong

I actually did that on a chemistry final in high school! I gave the answer in percent by volume instead of percent by weight. I got it back marked wrong. I went to the teacher and pointed out that it was percent by volume and was actually correct. He said, “why did you do that?” I said, “I don’t know, I was just calculating so fast that I forgot to stop at the weight figure, but the weight figure is right here in the calculation and I had to get that right before I could convert it to volume.” He gave me full credit.

Of course, getting this answer wrong will cost Roger $100. By the time he’s done, Jason will be a millionaire… ;-)

http://tinyurl.com/62z9x9s now it’s tau

Jason, the answer is Apple Pi with homemade vanilla ice cream.

the answer is C. Look it up

“Uhh … can I use a lifeline?”