Have him or her get a pencil and paper and bring it to the phone, so he or she can write down numbers from 1 to 9. OK, here's a neat way to win bets with a magic square. Here's a magic square with as many different totals as possible.īack to Top Win Bets with this Magic Square Here's a magic square that not only adds up to 264 in all directions, but it does it even when it's upside down! If you don't believe me, look at it while you are standing on your head! (Or, just copy it out and turn it upside down.) To create the first Magic Square #15 above, you let a be equal to 5, let b be equal to 3, and let c be equal to 1.
Always choose a so that it larger than the sum of b and c.Let the letters a, b, and c stand for integers (that is, whole numbers).You don't need much math at all to get into the adventure of numbers told in this classic book. This recipe and both of the above two magic squares comes from one heck of a great book called, Mathematics for the Million, by Lancelot Hogben, published by Norton and Company. Here's a recipe for making your own 3 X 3 magic number square. So do both diagonals!īack to Top A Recipe for Your Own 3 X 3 Magic Square
So do both diagonals!Įvery row and column sums to 34 in this magic square. This is possible because the middle digit will always be 9, and the other two digits will always sum to 9! So to get the digit other than the middle one (which is 9) and other than the digit that your friend tells you, just subtract the digit your friend tells you from 9, and that is the unknown digit.Įvery row and column sums to 15 in this magic square. Tell your friend that if she or he will tell you what the first OR last digit of the answer is, you will tell her or him what the other two digits are.The sum of the three digit answer will always be 18! Then amaze him or her by teling them what the sum of those three numbers is. Ask your friend to add up the three digits of the number that results from subtracting the smaller from the larger 3-digit number.Tell them not to tell you what the result is. Now have him or her subtract the lower (and smaller) 3-digit number from the upper (and larger) 3-digit number.And write this number right underneath the first number. Next have her or him form a new 3-digit number by reversing the digits, putting the smallest first and the largest last.Tell him/her not to tell you what the numbers are. Tell him or her (or her or him) to write the three numbers down next to each other, largest first and smallest last, to form a single 3-digit number.Ask your mark to pick three (3) different numbers between 1 and 9.(But remember we were first.)Īmaze the peons with this one. If you want more math challenges try the new PBS MATHLINE MATH CHALLENGESsite.Explore Geometryin a fun and interactive way.Test your knowledge of the multiplication tables ().(If you're using Netscape, Do Not Scroll down the page while this loads. Play a Math-Chase Game () - for one or two players.Learn about the original computer: The Abacus ().A Reading list of Tricky Math Books, most of which I have used for this site.Idea that math can be fun! Try these tricks: The calculation uses the binomial coefficient: $$ C_n^k = \binom $$Ĭombinations uses calculus of factorials (the exclamation mark: !).Math Tricks for All Ages This web page is devoted to the