# What could possibly be the point in this grade 8 math exercise?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-possibly-be-the-point-in-this-grade-8-math-exercise/553609>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [September 13, 2010, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-possibly-be-the-point-in-this-grade-8-math-exercise/553609 "2010-09-13T15:18:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\
**Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-possibly-be-the-point-in-this-grade-8-math-exercise/553609/41 "2010-09-15T18:45:14Z")

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So what’s the final ruling, Leaffan? Do you have to use all 4 numbers in the equation?

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**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\
**Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-possibly-be-the-point-in-this-grade-8-math-exercise/553609/42 "2010-09-15T23:04:48Z")

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> [@Rain\_Soaked](#):
>
> > [@Desert\_Nomad](#):
> >
> > We did that in 7th grade, but we had to construct 1…100 using four 4s:
> > 
> > 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 = 16  
> > (4 \* 4) + (4 \* 4) = 32  
> > 4! + 4! + 4! + 4! = 96
> > 
> > etc.
> > 
> > IIRC there were two numbers that could not be constructed this way
> 
> You can do them all from 1-100. It is 113 that is a problem. [Here](http://wheels.org/math/44s.html) are some solutions.

I’ve never seen a problem like that where you could use .4 and 4’ (.444444444…) as terms, and they each counted as a single 4.

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