Creating your own Amazing Grid

Transcript

Creating your own Amazing GridEver seen those number puzzles where the answer is always the same? It's not magic—it's a hidden mathematical structure! Here’s how you can build a bigger 4 x 4 grid yourself and amaze your friends. Step 1: Create Your 4x4 Secret Blueprint The entire grid is built from a "hidden" set of numbers that only you know. First, choose a secret number for each of the four rows and four columns. Our Secret 4x4 Blueprint: Row Numbers: [20, 10, -5, -10] Column Numbers: [1, -1, 3, -3] Think of it like this, with your secret numbers waiting on the outside: Step 2: Predict the Future: Find the Magic Sum! Before you even fill the grid, you can calculate the final answer. Just add up all your secret numbers! Sum of Hidden Rows: 20 + 10 + (-5) + (-10) = 15 Sum of Hidden Columns: 1 + (-1) + 3 + (-3) = 0 The Magic Sum will always be: 15 + 0 = 15 Step 3: Build the Grid for the World to See Now, fill in each square. The number in each cell is simply the sum of its hidden row number and hidden column number. Top-Left Cell: 20 + 1 = 21 Cell at Row 2, Col 3: 10 + 3 = 13 Bottom-Right Cell: -10 + -3 = -13 Here is the finished grid you can show to your audience Step 4: Perform the Magic Trick! Let's play the game on our new grid. Have a friend circle any number, then cross out its row and column. Repeat until one number is left in each row and column. They circle 11. Cross out its row and column. From the rest, they circle 19. Cross out its row and column. Next, they circle -2. Cross out its row and column. The only number left is -13. Circle it. The circled numbers are 11, 19, -2, and -13. Now for the big reveal... add them up: 11 + 19 + (-2) + (-13) = 15 It's the Magic Sum you predicted! The Secret Revealed... Why does this always work? When you play the game, the rules force you to pick exactly one number from each row and each column. By doing this, you are unknowingly just adding up all the secret row and column numbers you started with, which always results in the same total.