Magic Star Puzzle for Educational Mathematics

Gan Yee Siang

a
, Fong Wan Heng
b
and Nor Haniza Sarmin
a

a
Department of Mathematical Sciences, Faculty of Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia,
81310 UTM Johor Bahru, Johor DT, Malaysia
b
Ibnu Sina Institute for Fundamental Science Studies, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia,
81310 UTM Johor Bahru, Johor DT, Malaysia
Abstract. One of the interesting fields in recreational mathematics is the magic number arrangement. There are different
kinds of arrays in the arrangement for a group of numbers. In particular, one of the arrays in magic number arrangement
is called magic star. In fact, magic star involves combinatorics that contributes to geometrical analysis and number
theory. Hence, magic star is suitable to be introduced as educational mathematics to cultivate interest in different area of
mathematics. To obtain the solutions of normal magic stars of order six, the possible sets of numbers for every line in a
magic star have been considered. Previously, the calculation for obtaining the solutions has been done manually which is
time-consuming. Therefore, a programming code to generate all the fundamental solutions for normal magic star of order
six without including the properties of rotation and reflection has been done. In this puzzle, a magic star puzzle is created
by using Matlab software, which enables a user to verify the entries for the cells of magic star of order six. Moreover, it is
also user-friendly as it provides interactive commands on the inputs given by the user, which enables the user to detect
the incorrect inputs. In addition, user can also choose to view all the fundamental solutions as generated by the
programming code.
Keywords: magic number arrangement, normal magic star, Magic star puzzle, Matlab programming
PACS: 01. 50. hv, 01. 40. E-, 01. 40. ek
INTRODUCTION
In the mathematical combinatorics field, there is an interesting branch called magic number arrangement. One of
the most common arrays in magic number arrangement that has been developed by Zou Yan at 320-240BC is called
the magic square [1]. Besides, there are other arrays of magic arrangement that have been developed after the magic
square. One of the arrays that have been considered in this paper is called the magic star. Magic star is a magic
pattern in the shape of a star [2]. In fact, magic star is one of the variations of magic square.
In order for a magic star to be normal, the group of numbers in cells of magic star must contain consecutive
integers from 1 to 2n where n is the order of magic star. For example, magic star of order six has six lines of four
numbers being arranged in the shape of a hexagram and sums to a constant. The constant is also known as magic
constant or magic number. Magic stars of order six are considered as normal magic stars since they can be
constructed using twelve consecutive numbers starting from 1. The magic constant for magic star of order six is 26
(i.e, four numbers in a line summing to 26).
Previously, manual calculations are used to find the solution for magic star of order six. However, it is time
consuming if the solutions were to be found manually. Moreover, the detection on incorrect input on certain cells of
a magic star may not be easy if done manually. In order to solve these problems, software has been created by using
Matlab programming software namely magic star puzzle. This magic star puzzle is created to obtain the solution for
magic star of order six by allowing user to verify entries into the cell of magic star of order six. Besides, this puzzle
also provides interactive commands on the inputs given by user, which enables user to detect the incorrect inputs. In
addition, users can also choose to view all the fundamental solutions for magic star of order six in this puzzle.
In the next section, some terms and definitions that are used throughout this paper are given.

PRELIMINARIES
Each array of magic number arrangement has different number of magic constants. This magic constant is
important to distinguish the types of each array. Here, the proper definition of magic constant is given in Definition
1.

Proceedings of the 20th National Symposium on Mathematical Sciences
AIP Conf. Proc. 1522, 883-887 (2013); doi: 10.1063/1.4801222
2013 AIP Publishing LLC 978-0-7354-1150-0/$30.00
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Definition 1 [3]: (Magic Constant (N))
The sum produced by each row, column, and main diagonal (and possibly other arrangements) of the magic star is
called magic constant (N). The magic constant (N) of a normal magic star is N = 4n + 2, where n is the order of
magic star.
For nomal magic star, the proper definition is given in Definition 2.
Definition 2 [4]: (Normal Magic Star)
A normal magic star is an n-pointed magic star which contains the consecutive integers 1 to 2n, where n is the order
of magic star.
Next, some properties for magic arrangements such as complement, reflection and rotation are presented.

Definition 3 [5]: (Complement)
A complement is obtained by subtracting each number of a magic square or magic star from the patterns largest
number plus 1.
Definition 4 [6]: (Rotation)
Let A be a point in
2
. A mapping T:
22
2
is called a rotation about A if it has the following three properties:
i. T maps A into A,
ii. T is isometric, and
iii. There exists an angle between the original points to its image.
Definition 5 [6]: (Reflection)
Let E be a finite dimensional and S be a line in E. The mapping of E E which assigns to each point Q in E to its
reflection point through S is called the reflection of E through S.
In the next section, some properties for magic star of order six will be discussed.

PROPERTIES OF NORMAL MAGIC STAR OF ORDER SIX
As claimed by Henry Ernest Dudeney, 40 of the solutions for magic star of order six are basic solutions and
another 40 solutions are their complements. A complement of magic star can be obtained when each number in the
cell of magic star is subtracted from the largest number of the pattern plus one [5]. Since normal magic star of order
n has the largest number of 2n, therefore the number in each of the cells for normal magic stars of order n is subtract
from the number 2n + 1. Hence, the normal magic star of order six has total of 80 solutions and these 80 solutions
are called as fundamental solutions for normal magic star of order six. However, these 80 fundamental solutions do
not include the rotation and reflection transformation of magic stars of order six. This is because the rotations and
reflections of magic stars of order six are considered as single star, since the solutions obtained from rotation and
reflection are isometric to 80 of the fundamental solutions for normal magic star of order six [7].
As in the fields of geometry and linear algebra, rotation is just a transformation that is performed by spinning
an object around a fixed point. This fixed point is also known as the center of rotation. Usually, rotation is done in
the anticlockwise direction [6]. Thus, by applying rotation to the original magic star, there are six different solutions
for each of the fundamental solutions for magic star of order six. However, these six solutions are isometric to each
other and are considered as single star. Furthermore, reflection is another type of transformation. Reflection involves
flipping the body it is transforming when performing its transformation. It is a mapping that transforms an object
into its mirror image. Therefore, another eight solutions of normal magic star of order six can be obtained from each
of the original fundamental solutions for magic star by using reflection. However, the solutions obtained by using
reflection are also isometric to each other. Thus all the solutions obtained by reflection are also counted as one.
Furthermore, if the properties of complements, reflection and rotation transformations are taken into
consideration, we can find some new solutions of normal magic star of order six from each of the fundamental
solutions. However, without a single basic solution of normal magic star, other solutions cannot be obtained using
the properties discussed. Hence, one of the methods to construct normal magic star of order six will be discussed in
the next section.
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CONSTRUCTION OF MAGIC STAR PUZZLE
One of the methods that are used to construct solutions for normal magic stars is by considering all the
possibility of numbers to be the edge of magic star [7]. The method chooses all the possible set of four numbers to
be the edge of magic star using consecutive integers from 1 to 12. By using this method, 40 basic solutions for
normal magic star of order six can be obtained. From all these basic solutions, another 40 solutions for magic stars
of order six can be obtained by considering their complements. Therefore, there are 80 fundamental solutions for
magic stars of order six. The properties of rotation and reflection transformation are not taken into consideration to
find the fundamental solutions since the solutions obtained by these two transformations are isometric to each of
their fundamental solutions.
Previously, only manual calculations are used to find all the fundamental solutions for normal magic star of order
six. So, in order to verify the solutions obtained by manual calculation, the process can be time consuming and it
may be hard to detect which entries are incorrect. Hence in this puzzle, a magic star puzzle is created by using
Matlab programming that enables user to verify the entries for the cells of magic star of order six. Moreover, it is
also user-friendly as it provides interactive commands on the inputs given by the user, which enables the user to
detect the incorrect input easily. In addition, users can also choose to view all the fundamental solutions as generated
by the programming code. The functions of the developed puzzle are illustrated in the following figures.

1. The initial image for magic star puzzle is illustrated in Figure 1 below.



FIGURE 1. Initial image for magic star puzzle

2. If some integers that are out of range from number 1 to 12 are filled in some of the cells for magic star puzzle,
the image of the puzzle after clicking the button Submit Your Answer is illustrated in Figure 2.



FIGURE 2. The image after some integers not within 1 to 12 are filled into some cells of magic star puzzle
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3. Next, if some repeated integers are filled in some of the cells for magic star puzzle, the images of the puzzle
after clicking the button Submit Your Answer followed by Verify Your Answer button are illustrated in
Figure 3(a) and 3(b) respectively.



FIGURE 3. The images after some repeated integers are filled into some cells of magic star puzzle

4. If consecutive integers from number 1 to 12 are filled into each of the cells for magic star puzzle, the
images of the puzzle after clicking the button Submit Your Answer followed by Verify Your Answer
are illustrated in Figure 4(a) and 4(b) respectively.


(a) (b)

FIGURE 4. The images after consecutive integers from 1 to 12 are filled into all cells of magic star puzzle

Since some of the four numbers in some lines of magic star do not sum up to 26, hence the solution is not
correct. The puzzle will prompt the user to check the entries until the correct solution for magic star is obtained.
When correct inputs are inserted into the cells of magic star puzzle, we will obtain the following image as illustrated
in Figure 5.

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FIGURE 5. The image when the correct solution for magic star puzzle is obtained

Besides, this puzzle also provides a function for user to view all the fundamental solution for normal magic star
of order six. User can easily view all the fundamental solutions by just clicking the button Press to view all the
fundamental solutions instead of finding all of these solutions manually.

CONCLUSIONS
In this puzzle, one particular type of magic number arrangement namely the magic star has been investigated. A
magic star puzzle has been created by using Matlab programming software that enables user to verify the entries for
the cells of magic star of order six. Moreover, this puzzle also provides interactive commands on the inputs given by
the user, which enables the user to detect the incorrect inputs. Lastly, this puzzle also provides a function for user to
view all the fundamental solution of normal magic star of order six.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The first and third authors would like to thank the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) and Research
Management Centre (RMC), UTM for the financial funding through Research University Fund Vote No. 05J15. The
second author would also like to thank the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia for the financial funding support
through MyBrain15 scholarship.

REFERENCES
1. J. C. Martzloff, A History of Chinese Mathematics, New York: Springer, 2006.
2. M. Gardner, Mathematical Carnival, England: Penguin Books, 1976.
3. C. A. Pickover, The Zen of Magic Squares, circles, and stars: an exhibition of surprising structures across dimensions,
United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, 2002.
4. M. Trenkler, The PME Journal 11(10), 549554 (2004).
5. M. Gardner, The College Mathematics Journal 31(4), 274280 (2000).
6. D. M. Bloom, Linear Algebra and Geometry, USA: Donnelley & Sons Company, 1979.
7. M. Suzuki, Magic Star Sets, Math Forum, http://mathforum.org/ (10 October 2010).
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