(Music plays)

An animated clip shows a big orange X on a blue background. It explodes and letters and numbers come out of it in all directions and float around.

Mathemagician Eric appears on screen. He’s in his mid-twenties. He has short dark brown hair and a beard. He wears a red T-shirt with the show’s logo, blue jeans and red Tennis shoes.

The screen turns red and the logo of the show appears next. It reads "MathXplosion." Meanwhile, cones, cubes and dices float around it.

Kids voices sing a song with lyrics that go
WHAT A HIT
IT'S NOT A TRICK
IT'S MATHXPLOSION
JUST FOR YOU
COOL AND NEW
MATHXPLOSION!

The episode starts with Eric standing in a workroom. The large table next to him has three red cups on.

Eric says HEEEY!
DID YOU KNOW THAT IN
EXACTLY THREE MOVES,
FLIPPING TWO CUPS
AND ONLY TWO CUPS
AT A TIME IN EACH MOVE,
AND NOT REPEATING
THE SAME MOVE TWICE,
I CAN ARRANGE
THESE THREE CUPS
TO ALL FACE DOWN?
DON'T BLINK; IT
HAPPENS FAST.
OH, AND WATCH
CLOSELY TO BE SURE
I DON'T REPEAT
ANY MOVES.
READY?
HERE WE GO.

He flips the cups.

He says ONE.
TWO.
THREE.

The three cups end up with their bases up.

He says SEE HOW I FLIPPED
TWO CUPS AT A TIME
IN EXACTLY
THREE MOVES?
NOT ONE MOVE.
NOT TWO MOVES.
BUT EXACTLY
THREE MOVES.

He snaps his fingers and magically water comes out of the two cups on the side. He pours it in the one on the middle.

Eric says COOL.

Now, he’s ready to start.

He says YOU CAN AMAZE YOUR
FRIENDS WITH THIS
CLEVER PUZZLE.
THE KEY IS TO FLIP
THE CUPS IN PAIRS.
SO, TWO AT A TIME.
IT'S ALSO IMPORTANT THAT
TWO IS AN EVEN NUMBER.
IN MATH, EVEN MEANS THE
NUMBER CAN BE DIVIDED
BY TWO.
YOU NEED TO DO TWO
THINGS TO MAKE THIS WORK.
ARRANGE THE CUPS THE
RIGHT WAY SO YOU CAN
SOLVE THE PUZZLE.

As he speaks, dynamic arrows point at the cups. The two to the sides are normally placed. The one in the middle is upside down.

He says NEXT, DISTRACT
YOUR AUDIENCE.
LOOK AT THE SQUIRREL!
IN THIS CASE, THREE MOVES
ARE THE DISTRACTION.
YOU CAN PICK
ANY NUMBER.
FRANKLY, IT WOULD
BE OVER TOO FAST IF
I SOLVED IT
IN ONE MOVE.
THREE IS MORE FUN.
START WITH ONE CUP
DOWN, TWO CUPS UP.
THAT MEANS TWO CUPS WILL
NEED TO BE FLIPPED DOWN.
THINK OF ODD
AND EVEN NUMBERS.
I CAN SOLVE THE PUZZLE
BECAUSE THE NUMBER OF CUPS
I HAVE TO FLIP DOWN
IS AN EVEN NUMBER.
IF THE NUMBER OF
CUPS TO FLIP DOWN IS
AN ODD NUMBER...
THAT JUST
WON'T WORK.

As he explains, the dynamic arrows represent the next cup’s move.

He continues
ONE CUP WILL ALWAYS
FACE THE WRONG WAY.
WHEN YOU FLIP TWO
CUPS AT A TIME,
THERE ARE ONLY THREE
MOVES YOU CAN MAKE.
FLIP CUPS ONE
AND TWO.
FLIP CUPS TWO
AND THREE.
OR ONE AND
THREE, LIKE SO.

He alternates the different combinations.

Eric continues
ONE.
TWO.
AND LOOKY
HERE, THREE.
TA-DA!
ALL CUPS ARE
FACE DOWN.

(music plays)

Eric draws a circle and colours it inside. He taps on it and a new clip plays. An animation shows two kids in the kitchen looking at a cookie jar on the table. The kids take the cookies one by one and now the jar is empty.

Eric says THIS CUP TRICK ISN'T
THE ONLY ODD THING
YOU CAN DO WITH ODD
AND EVEN NUMBERS.
WHEN YOU DIVIDE AN EVEN
NUMBER OF OBJECTS BY TWO,
YOU CAN ALWAYS SHARE
EQUALLY BETWEEN TWO PEOPLE.
IF THERE ARE SIX COOKIES,
SIX IS AN EVEN NUMBER
AND TWO PEOPLE CAN HAVE AN
EQUAL NUMBER OF COOKIES.
THREE EACH.
BUT IF YOU TRY AND DIVIDE
SEVEN COOKIES BY TWO,
YOU WILL HAVE ONE
COOKIE LEFT OVER
BECAUSE SEVEN IS
AN ODD NUMBER.

Eric appears back in the workroom.

He says CHALLENGE YOUR FRIENDS
TO GET ALL THREE CUPS
TO FACE UP.
BUT START WITH ONLY
ONE CUP FACING DOWN.
YOU KNOW IT CAN'T BE
DONE BECAUSE ONE IS NOT
AN EVEN NUMBER.
IT'S ODD NUMBER.
BUT THEY CAN KEEP TRYING
AND TRYING AND TRYING.
HA HA HA HA!
IT'S NOT MAGIC.
IT'S MATH.

A big explosion brings the show’s logo back on the screen.

(music plays)

The end credits roll.

Produced by GAPC Entertainment in association with TVOKids.

Copyright GAPC Entertainment (MathPlosion) Incorporated, 2016.