A professor from a British university has created a new way to help students to learn math by teaching them magic tricks.

Professor Peter McOwan from Queen Mary’s School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science of the University of London has produced a series of videos entitled ‘Maths in Magic’ and ‘Hustle’ in conjunction with More Maths Grads (MMG).

MMG is a three year project that aims to increase the number of students studying mathematics and encourage participation from groups of learners who have not traditionally been well represented in higher education.

“It’s fascinating how many great magic tricks and more worryingly con tricks work using hidden mathematical principles”, explained Professor McOwan.

“The videos were made to help show how the power of maths can entertain and mystify, and how if we aren’t careful can even part us from our hard earned cash.”

Below is a demo video: