The Four Fours Puzzle Challenge

The Four Fours Puzzle Challenge

The 'Four Fours Puzzle' challenges you to use exactly four '4's and any mathematical operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, exponents, square roots, factorials, decimals, etc.) to create different whole numbers. Your goal is to reach the target number using only four 4s.

Example: To make 1, you can write (4 ÷ 4) + (4 - 4) = 1 + 0 = 1, or 44 ÷ 44 = 1. Or even 4! ÷ (4 x 4) - 4/4 = 24 / 16 - 1 (this doesn't work for 1, but shows variety of operations). A simpler one for 1 is 4/4 + 4 - 4.

Use exactly four '4's and any mathematical operations to achieve the target numbers below.

1. Make 0:  

2. Make 1:  

3. Make 2:  

4. Make 4:  

5. Make 8:  

Challenge yourself to find solutions for the following numbers. Remember to use exactly four '4's.

6. Make 5:

7. Make 7:

8. Make 9:

9. Make 10:

10. Which of the following expressions correctly uses four '4's to make 16?

11. Which of the following expressions correctly uses four '4's to make 20?

Use your knowledge of order of operations and more complex operations to achieve these larger numbers with four '4's.

12. Make 24 (Hint: Think about factorials! 4! = 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 = 24):

13. Make 32:

14. Make 48:

What strategies did you find most helpful when trying to solve the Four Fours Puzzle?