The magic of 34
The number 34 has acquired a fair amount of notoriety in the recent past. As a mathematician, I feel compelled to put in a good word for the number 34. You may reasonably ask, “What is so special about 34?” The answer is nothing short of magical. I remember my first encounter in elementary school with a 3 x 3 magic square:
4 3 8
9 5 1
2 7 6
I was so fascinated that all the rows, columns and diagonals added up to the same number—15—that I memorised the square. Consider the following:
1 12 7 14
8 13 2 11
10 3 16 5
15 6 9 4
As expected from any magic square worth its salt, the rows, colums and main diagonals all add up to—you guessed it—34! But this is no ordinary magic square. The numbers in every 2 x 2 sub-square (eg 12, 7, 13, 2) add to 34! Check them all. Even the four corner numbers (1, 14, 15, 4) add to 34. But there’s more. Take any 3 x 3 sub-square. The corners of those also add to 34. Truly magical.
With all the trials and tribulations of everyday life, I’m sure we could all do with a little magic in our lives. Who would have believed that the number 34 could provide it!
Noel Kalicharan