Stage Four

Problem No. 14 Broken Calculator

 

Your calculator is "broken". The number keys 3 and 4 have been stolen.

How can you get the following numbers on your screen without the use of these keys:

14

33

43

434

3744

Hint: Use the remaining keys and the four mathematical operations.

Is it possible to get all the numbers from 1 to 100 on the screen without the use of these keys? Explain.

If your friend stole the subtraction key, could you still get all the numbers from 1 to 100?

All Stage 4 Problems

This involves a little imagination, and it is possible to create every number, if you want to think about it. No answers this week, but I will solve a special one...

Imagine a calculator that has lost all its keys except the 1 key and the + key. How could you get 14 on the screen...

Too easy:

1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 +

or 11 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 +

will give the answer.

We don't even need the = key. Try it out to make sure.

What is special about the numbers you could create if you only had the 2 key and the + key?