Magic Squares 2 – Creating a 4×4 Magic Square

Rather surprisingly I find 4×4 magic squares offer more opportunity in the classroom than 3×3.

To start with, though I can never remember the details for a 3×3 square, it’s easy to create a 4×4 square in just a few moments.

Start by writing the numbers 1 to 16 into a 4×4 square in the natural way.

Then exchange the numbers in the two yellow positions, and do the same with the numbers in the other two corners.

You now have this arrangement.

Now exchange the two numbers in the two red positions, and do the same with the other two numbers in the central square.

That’s it!  You now have a 4×4 magic square in which every row, every column, and the two diagonals add up to 34.

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