Essay 3

MAGIC SQUARES


Magic Squares have been around for a long time. Work with Magic Squares has been found in ancient Chinese civilizations as well as in other cultures. This page will demonstrate my experience with magic squares because I have never worked with them until now.


A magic square is a set of numbers inside of an nxn square whos rows, columns, and diagonals all sum up to the same number.


This is a 3x3 magic square. The sum of the rows, columns, and diagonals is 15.


How do we enter the numbers into the magic square so that the sums come out equal? Well, for a magic square with odd sides, here is what I figured out:


You can use the above method for any 3x3 or 5x5 or oddxodd magic squares. Some more examples of 3x3's are below.


I am still working on a pattern for evenxeven magic squares. However; below is a 4x4 magic square with the digits 1-16.

 

 

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