Sunday 29 April 2012

Question Zero: System Test

Question Zero is here to test the system and make sure everything is running smoothly. Please answer the question so that you can see how the system works. Any technical problems, please leave a comment or send an email as instructed in the Competition Rules page.

Question Zero

The simplest magic square is a 3x3 grid in which you must place the numbers 1 to 9 inclusive so that every row, every column and every diagonal have the same sum.

a) Submit one solution to the magic square problem.

This does not have to be an image, just write the digits in their correct places, for example:

1 3 5
7 9 2
4 6 8

Note, this is not a solution!

b) Your solution to part (a) is not unique. You can move the numbers using a variety of transformations so that the magic square remains magic! How many solutions in total are there?

You need to answer both parts (a) and (b) to qualify as a complete solution.

Have fun!

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Don't look at the answers!

Try it yourself first.

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You'll get a better brain buzz when you solve it yourself!

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One day you will need to solve somthing that nobody has solved!

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2 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Well done! You are the very first commenter... however what about part (b) ?

      Delete

Comments are disabled for the first 24 hours after each question is posted. This gives everyone time to try the question without seeing the answer posted! If you can see the comments box below, then this question is open to comments. (Anything considered spam, offensive or purely pointless shall be deleted; as if I need to say so!)