Magic Hexagon

Most of us are familiar with Magic Squares and its wonders. But little is known about Magic Hexagons. This post is attributed for describing "Magic Hexagons".

A magic hexagon of order n is an arrangement of numbers in a centered hexagonal pattern with n cells on each edge, in such a way that the numbers in each row, in all three directions, sum to the same magic constant. A normal magic hexagon contains the consecutive integers from 1 to 3n^2 − 3n + 1. It turns out that normal magic hexagons exist only for n = 1 (which is trivial) and n = 3. Moreover, the solution of order 3 is essentially unique. These hexagons are shown for your reference. The first magic hexagon has Magic sum 1 and second has Magic Sum 38.

Easy Math Editor

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Math	Appears as
Remember to wrap math in `$` ... `$` or `\[` ... `\]` to ensure proper formatting.
`2 \times 3`	$2 \times 3$
`2^{34}`	$2^{34}$
`a_{i-1}`	$a_{i-1}$
`\frac{2}{3}`	$\frac{2}{3}$
`\sqrt{2}`	$\sqrt{2}$
`\sum_{i=1}^3`	$\sum_{i=1}^3$
`\sin \theta`	$\sin \theta$
`\boxed{123}`	$\boxed{123}$

Comments

This is interesting. Do you know why no other magic hexagon of higher orders exist?

With $n=2$ , why can't we have

$\begin{array} { l l l l } & 1 & & 2 \\ 5 & & 4 & & 3 \\ & 6 & & 7 \\ \end{array}$

The entries in each row sum to 12. Is there something that I'm missing?

Calvin Lin Staff - 7 years, 3 months ago

I believe what you wrote down isn't exactly correct. Although a few of the rows sum to 12, not all of them do. I'll go through a few of the rows.

$1 + 2 \neq 12$

$5 + 6 \neq 12$

$6 + 7 \neq 12$

and so on.

Milly Choochoo - 7 years, 3 months ago

Ah, even 'partial' rows count. That makes sense now. Thanks!

Calvin Lin Staff - 7 years, 3 months ago

Higher order magic hexagons do exist, but cannot be 'normal'.

Jonathan Wong - 7 years, 3 months ago

Math	Appears as
Remember to wrap math in `\(` ... `\)` or `\[` ... `\]` to ensure proper formatting.
`2 \times 3`	$2 \times 3$
`2^{34}`	$2^{34}$
`a_{i-1}`	$a_{i-1}$
`\frac{2}{3}`	$\frac{2}{3}$
`\sqrt{2}`	$\sqrt{2}$
`\sum_{i=1}^3`	$\sum_{i=1}^3$
`\sin \theta`	$\sin \theta$
`\boxed{123}`	$\boxed{123}$