More Matchstick Arithmetic

Re: More Matchstick Arithmetic

Larry Barrett

Depends on your point of view. Pretty sure I heard that on CT.

Correct, but a followup

Alex Y

Larry is correct. The answer is that you don't have to move any matchsticks; Just move to the other side of the table, and see that the equation reads

X= i + IX

But here is a conundrum:

If you place a mirror opposite you, with the matchsticks between you and the mirror, the image on the mirror will read exactly like the equation on the table. But if you rotate that mirror 90 degrees and put it at either end of the equation, the image in the mirror will read as the correct equation you saw when you walked to the other side of the table.

Now imagine the mirror to be on a lazy susan ring surrounding the static equation. As you rotate that mirror from the position opposite you to the position at the end of the equation, at what point does the image in the mirror become correct?

Re: Correct, but a followup

Larry Barrett

It is an interesting question. I would never have thought to try this approach.

I experimented several times and come up with two different answers. Seems to depend, for me, on which side of the equation I focus on first. One answer is that the equation seems to switch at around the 45 degree point, rotating either way. Other times, the equation seemed to remain the same until the 90 degree point where it switches immediately.