How to Build a Tower of Cards

Desi92

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posted on 17 years ago — updated on 1 second ago

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With the right technique and enough patience, you can build a three, four, or even a five-story card tower with just one deck of cards. Whether it's in the comfort of your own home or an elaborate party trick, it's sure to be impressive with the right technique.

Steps

Get out a deck of cards. It should be a relatively new deck - old, flimsy cards that are creased and folded will not fare well, but neither will a totally brand new slippery deck; see Tips. An interesting design usually adds a nice touch as well.

Select 2 cards from the deck. Place them so that they are about 2 inches (5 cm) apart from each other at the base, and lean them together into an upside-down "V". The "/\", or apex, should balance independently when placed down on the surface.

Construct another apex beside the first; place about 1cm of space between them.

Place a card horizontally on top of the two points.

Construct another apex on top of the card laid horizontally. Now you have a second story.

Add another apex next to the two existing points and repeat the process. Make the base three points wide and you will have the potential of going three stories tall, make your base four points wide for going four stories tall, and so on.