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Saturday, October 1, 2011

Suppose You Transpose

Here's your first type of secret code! This is called a transposition code. "Transposition" simply means a change in position. In this kind of code, you and your partner agree on a number, then move each letter of a word over to the right that number of spaces, wrapping the end numbers around to the front. For example, for a transposition number of 2, this happens to the word "CODE": the first letter, "C", becomes the third (1+2), the "O" becomes the fourth, the "D" becomes the first, and the "E" becomes the second. So the secret form of this word is: DECO. Would you have guessed that meant "CODE" if you didn't know the trick?

Try writing these words in transposition code (the number is shown in parentheses):

SECRET (3)
ORANGE (1)
OCTOPUS (4)

Now try decoding these words!
AFFEGIR (4)
BEROCTO (3)
CHOOLS (1)

Once you have the hang of the transposition code, write a longer message to a friend and see if he or she can read it!

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