# Maths Trick Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 4, 2002, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maths-trick-question/112310 "2002-06-04T04:23:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FloChi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58956e/32.png) [@FloChi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloChi)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maths-trick-question/112310/1 "2002-06-04T04:23:45Z")
Last Friday night I was given a page of math trick things to do. I could do most of them, but the one that I can’t get (and noone has the answer sheet to) has to do with four 4’s. Basically there are four 4’s on the page and you put a +, -, \*, / or () around the fours to get them to equal the numbers from one to ten; eg - (4 + 4 + 4) / 4 = 3 I can get all of them except 10, so how does one fill in 4 4 4 4 = 10? I am sure there is a resource for stuff like this on the web, but all I came across in my scant survey (math, trick, four, etc) were jokes and impossible mathematics (division by zero etc). Thanks, FloChi ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maths-trick-question/112310/2 "2002-06-04T04:31:29Z")
How about (44-4)/4? ---
**Author:** ![evilhanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba8739/32.png) [@evilhanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilhanz)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maths-trick-question/112310/3 "2002-06-04T04:36:20Z")
How about (44-4)/4? They don’t say that you HAVE to put operators between the numbers 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![evilhanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba8739/32.png) [@evilhanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilhanz)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maths-trick-question/112310/4 "2002-06-04T04:38:39Z")
Grrr. Karl Gauss beat me to it, but here’s another: 4 + 4 + sqrt(4) + sqrt(4) Also, here’s a list of links to what is apparently known as the [Four Fours puzzle](http://mathforum.org/library/drmath/view/56838.html) ---
**Author:** ![FloChi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58956e/32.png) [@FloChi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloChi)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maths-trick-question/112310/5 "2002-06-04T04:48:36Z")
Thanks for that, guess it was another of those lateral puzzles. Thanks evilhanz and Karl Gauss, although the second solution doesn’t work as one can’t use the sqrt function. Thanks, Flochi ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maths-trick-question/112310/6 "2002-06-04T05:02:07Z")
4 + 4 + sqrt(4) + sqrt(4) = **12** not 10 ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maths-trick-question/112310/7 "2002-06-04T05:03:23Z")
4 + 4 + 4 - sqrt(4) = 10 If sqrt was allowed ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maths-trick-question/112310/8 "2002-06-04T16:37:11Z")
I remember being obsessed with this many years ago. Depending on which functions you are allowed to apply, you can go up into the hundreds before your mind shuts down from the fours floating through it destroying synapses.