What math flash card game did I play in school?
December 2, 2011 8:17 AM   Subscribe

What math flash card game, which required you to use each of four numbers on a card to get to one fixed answer each time, did I play in grammar school?

Our teacher would hold up the card and everyone would start working through all of the combinations and the first one to raise their hand with a correct answer would get a little prize.

As I remember, there were four numbers on each card, maybe in the shape of a diamond and maybe the diamond was orange. You had to use each number on the card, and could add, subtract, divide, multiply, or (maybe) take square roots. The mission was to get the numbers on the card to equal out to one fixed answer, and maybe that answer was the same for every single card (like 14, or 21, or something). That number might be the name of the game itself.

So for example, the card might say 7, 6, 2, 1. And you would say 7x6 is 42, divided by 2 is 21, times 1 is 21. (Or you could say 7x2 is 14, plus 6 is 20, plus 1 is 21.)
posted by AgentRocket to Education (5 answers total)
 
Best answer: It's called "the 24 game" - you can find it on amazon.
posted by chr1sb0y at 8:27 AM on December 2, 2011


Best answer: 24. At least in the version my classes had square roots weren't a part of it.

As a side note, I've always suspected that they just threw numbers on a card.
posted by theichibun at 8:28 AM on December 2, 2011


Best answer: As a side note, I've always suspected that they just threw numbers on a card.

I have played this game with an ordinary deck of cards. You just deal out four cards and use the numbers on them to make 24. The problem is that some small fraction of deals are actually unsolvable.
posted by madcaptenor at 8:32 AM on December 2, 2011


Response by poster: Fantastic. Thanks a lot, friends.
posted by AgentRocket at 8:43 AM on December 2, 2011


As a related game, my daughter's class had a poster on the wall with all the numbers listed from 1 to 100, and for each one, the kids had to use ONLY the number 4, as many times as they wanted with any operation, to get to that number. So, like 44 + 44/44 = 45. Or (4x4)/(4+4) = 2.
posted by CathyG at 7:54 PM on December 2, 2011


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