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

[Munch]

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

[Gary_Robson]

@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 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.