Puzzles
Puzzles
Puzzles
By
ANIL KUMAR C P
Puzzles for
kids
I thank profusely the following people for useful discussions and helpful comments.
I also would like to thank people of IMSc Chennai for their support during the
writing of this document. More than anybody else, I thank God for successfully
completing this document.
Contents
Acknowledgements i
Contents ii
1 Magic Squares 1
ii
Chapter 1
Magic Squares
17 24 1 8 15
23 5 7 14 16
4 6 13 20 22 The sum is always 65.
10 12 19 21 3
11 18 25 2 9
Here is a 3 × 3 grid of ordered pairs.
(8,12) (1,19) (6,14)
(3,17) (5,15) (7,13) . The sum is always (15, 45).
(4,16) (9,11) (2,18)
Here is a grid of variables which can be added.
A+P B+Q C+R D+S
C+S D+R A+Q B+P
The sum is always A + B + C + D + P + Q + R + S.
D+Q C+P B+S A+R
B+R A+S D+P C+Q
1
Chapter 2
2
Chapter 3
Construct a (2n + 1) × (2n + 1) magic square of ordered pairs as follows: Write (i, i)
in the middle column for i = 0, . . . , 2n from top to bottom. Add (1, 2)mod (2n + 1)
and wrap around in each row. We get a magic square of ordered pairs which in
base n notation is the usual (2n + 1) × (2n + 1) magic square containing numbers
0, . . . , (n2 − 1). The diagonal and the antidiagonal sum is the same requires proof.
This is one way to construct the magic square for an odd integer n = 5.
(1,1) (1,2) (1,3) (1,4) (1,5) (1,0) (1,1) (1,2) (1,3) (1,4)
(2,1) (2,2) (2,3) (2,4) (2,5) (2,0) (2,1) (2,2) (2,3) (2,4)
(3,1) (3,2) (3,3) (3,4) (3,5) Subtract (0, 1) (3,0) (3,1) (3,2) (3,3) (3,4)
(4,1) (4,2) (4,3) (4,4) (4,5) −−−−−−−−−−→ (4,0) (4,1) (4,2) (4,3) (4,4)
(5,1) (5,2) (5,3) (5,4) (5,5) (5,0) (5,1) (5,2) (5,3) (5,4)
Keep a copy and Multiply a copy by (1, 2) component wise
−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−→
(1,0),(1,0) (1,1), (1,2) (1,2),(1,4) (1,3),(1,6) (1,4),(1,8)
(2,0),(2,0) (2,1), (2,2) (2,2),(2,4) (2,3),(2,6) (2,4),(2,8)
(3,0),(3,0) (3,1),(3,2) (3,2),(3,4) (3,3),(3,6) (3,4),(3,8)
(4,0),(4,0) (4,1),(4,2) (4,2),(4,4) (4,3),(4,6) (4,4),(4,8)
(5,0),(5,0) (5,1),(5,2) (5,2),(5,4) (5,3),(5,6) (5,4),(5,8)
Add ( n−1
2
= 2, 0) to the first copy component wise and keep the second copy as it is
−−−−−−− −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−→
(3,0),(1,0) (3,1),(1,2) (3,2),(1,4) (3,3),(1,6) (3,4),(1,8)
(4,0),(2,0) (4,1),(2,2) (4,2),(2,4) (4,3),(2,6) (4,4),(2,8)
(5,0),(3,0) (5,1),(3,2) (5,2),(3,4) (5,3),(3,6) (5,4),(3,8)
(6,0),(4,0) (6,1),(4,2) (6,2),(4,4) (6,3),(4,6) (6,4),(4,8)
(7,0),(5,0) (7,1),(5,2) (7,2),(5,4) (7,3),(5,6) (7,4),(5,8)
Sum the components in each copy
−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−→
3,1 4,3 5,5 6,7 7,9 3,1 4,3 0,0 1,2 2,4
4,2 5,4 6,6 7,8 8,10 4,2 0,4 1,1 2,3 3,0
5,3 6,5 7,7 8,9 9,11 Remainder when / by 5 0,3 1,0 2,2 3,4 4,1
6,4 7,6 8,8 9,10 10,12 −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−→ 1,4 2,1 3,3 4,0 0,2
7,5 8,7 9,9 10,11 11,13 2,0 3,2 4,4 0,1 1,3
Multiply the first one by 5
−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−→
4
15,1 20,3 0,0 5,2 10,4 16 23 0 7 14
20,2 0,4 5,1 10,3 15,0 22 4 6 13 15
0,3 5,0 10,2 15,4 20,1 −Add
−−−−the
−−−II
−−one
−−−to the
−−−−−−I−
one
−→ 3 5 12 19 21
5,4 10,1 15,3 20,0 0,2 9 11 18 20 2
10,0 15,2 20,4 0,1 5,3 10 17 24 1 8
−Add
−−−→1
17 24 1 8 15
23 5 7 14 16
4 6 13 20 22
10 12 19 21 3
11 18 25 2 9
We get the 5 × 5 magic square of numbers.
5
Chapter 4
6
4.2 Multiplicative and Function Sum Magic Squares
64 1 36
9 25 49 What is the function?
16 81 4
7
Chapter 5
Representable and
Non-representable Numbers of the
Form ax + by
Question 1. Find a general formula for the highest number not representable by
a, b. Find a formula for the number of non-representable numbers.
The highest number not representable by (5, 7) is 23. The total number of numbers
from 0, 1, . . . , 23 that are not representable is 12 and the number of numbers which
are representable is also 12.
8
z}|{
0 1 2 3 4
z}|{
5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14
z}|{
15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24
z}|{
25 26 27 28 29
30 31 32 33 34
z}|{
35 36 37 38 39
The highest number not representable by (5, 9) is 31. The total number of numbers
from 0, 1, . . . , 31 that are not representable is 16 and the number of numbers which
are representable is also 16.