Mental Arithmetic Puzzle

Whistle
1

1 1 1=3

2 2 2=3

3 3 3=3

4 4 4=3

5 5 5=3

6 6 6=3

7 7 7=3

8 8 8=3

9 9 9=3

10 10 10=3

Using any combination /permutation of six basic mathematical functions can make each line of the puzzle equal Three.
The six functions are;

  1. Addition (+)
  2. Subtract (-)
  3. Multiply (x)
  4. Divide (./.) -sorry,no typewriter key for that one!
  5. Square root ( or that one!!)
  6. Decimal point (.)

Brackets ( ) can be used to illustrate the order of the calculations.
I will give you the first two by way of illustration because everybody gets these two in seconds;
(1+1)+1=3

(2/2)+2=3 (edited after posting by Wanderer)

There are no tricks or jokes involved,just good old maths.

Thirty minutes is normally allowed for this but what the hell-Who’s counting? (No pun intended)

Sorry if the framing of this post is sloppy but my keyboard skills are very limited-Enjoy.

Slan,
D.

2

I think you mean: (2/2)+2 = 3
since (2+2)-1=3 doesn’t fit the test :slight_smile:

3

3 * 3 / 3 = 3

(sqrt 9) + ( 9 - 9 ) = 3

4

Also
3+(3-3) :slight_smile:

5

4 - (4/4) = 3

6

Wanderer,
You are correct. My humble apologies.

I was concentrating so hard on my typing that I let that little typo get by me :blush: :blush:

Thank you for pointing that out to me . I will edit accordingly.

Slan,
D.

7

(.5 X 5) + .5 = 3

8

No sweat..i figured it was just a hasty typo…These things are easy for me to spot quickly..I’m a programmer by trade :wink:


SQR(10-(10/10))=3

9

(6x.6)-.6
= 5x.6
= 3

(square root of 9 + square root of 9) - qquare root of nine

1.0+1.0+1.0

10

This one is much cooler :slight_smile: 7 and 8 seem tricky

edit:

SQR(8+8/8)

I’ll leave you geniouses with the sevens

11

:slight_smile:

You did well happyturkeyman.
I don’t know what the voting age is in Hicksville,it’s eighteen over here but I reckon I was around you’re age when I came across that puzzle. I got 90% of it out in about fifteen minutes but got stuck on the sevens! The solution came to me with about twenty seconds left of the half hour time limit.
The trick works best in a pub about an hour before closing time and it’s usually great fun to watch all the beer-mats being torn up to be used for mad calculations and weird attempts at drunken maths.
Once I had a bet riding on it and when the other guys gave up I was too drunk to remember the solution to seven and had to cough up for a round of drinks!!

Slan,
D.
:slight_smile:

12

(7/.7)-7=3

13

:laughing: :laughing:
Good Man Wanderer.

That’s the tricky bit.
Take it to the pub and have fun.

Slan.
D.
:smiley:

14

(Square root of 9) X 9 divided by 9 =3

Square root of (10-[10/10]) =3

:wink:

Robin

15

Many of the lines have more than one solution.

I should have stated this in my original posting

Slan,
D.
:blush:

16

Got 9 out of 10 in 30 minutes…I just finished six and got impatient and looked. I had only eight left (I shoulda tried that one a bit more before looking). My six was kinda convoluted: sqrt((6-.6)/.6))

17

Oh, gee I miss math class

(starting calc next year, w00t!)