Magic Squares
Workspace for moving numbers.
Magic Squares are all about having fun with numbers.
Objective: for all the rows and columns to add up to the same number.
- Rule: you can only use the numbers 1-16 one time each
- Hint #1: the 'magic' number you're looking for is 34.
- Hint #2: use cross-values of 9 and 25. Gee, that equals 34 too!
Drag individual numbers, the whole staging area, whatever! Have fun!
Not currently explained on Wikipedia is the fact that true Magic Squares are amazingly symmetrical.
For example, all of these situations must add add up to the target number, in this case 34:
- the four corners
- the four center numbers
- for each outer edge, the 2 center numbers summed with the 2 corner numbers from the opposing side
- for each outer edge, the 2 corner numbers summed with the 2 center numbers from the opposing side
- There are other symmetries, but I'll leave it up to you to discover them!
As you can see, Wikipedia doesn't display fully symmetrical squares.
While it makes it a little harder, the reward is worth it in my opinion. Isn't that why you're here?
