Subramanian Venkatachalam

Magic Squares of Order 3 Subramanian Venkatachalam

Magic squares play a very important role in "Recreational Mathematics." They have been known in India and China for over 3000 years. Later, the knowledge of magic squares was carried by Arabs to the West. In this book we discuss the simplest and first odd order (3X3) magic squares. It is a square matrix consisting of numbers such that the sum of the elements of each row, column and diagonal is the same, called the magic sum. Semi and hetero squares, calendar magic squares, alphamagic squares and palindromic magic squares find a place in the book. Apart from additive magic squares, multiplicative magic squares are also important. Here, the products of the different elements of each row, column and diagonal are considered instead of addition. The book ends with quiz and questions. People curious about numbers will enjoy the beauty of magic squares even with little mathematical knowledge.