Okay, so yesterday I was messing around with this “8 expression number” thing, and I thought I’d share my little adventure with you all. It’s nothing groundbreaking, but hey, it was fun for me.
Getting Started
First, I needed to figure out what this even was. I mean, “8 expression number”? Sounds kinda made up, right? After a bit of digging around, I got the basic idea: take the number 8, and using only addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and parentheses, try to make different numbers.
My First Attempts
I grabbed a pen and paper – yeah, old school, I know – and started playing around. My first thought was to keep it simple:
- 8 + 8 = 16 (Okay, that’s easy)
- 8 – 8 = 0 (Even easier)
- 8 8 = 64 (Still easy)
- 8 / 8 = 1 (basic)
So, I had a few basic numbers down. But things got trickier when I tried to make other numbers. I started to think “how can build from the basic?”
Experimenting and Discovering
I spent a good chunk of time just scribbling down random combinations. I’d try something, mess it up, cross it out, and try again. It was kind of like a puzzle. For instance, I tried to make 24. I realized, I can get there by doing this:
8 + 8 + 8 = 24
Then I thought “Can I use multiplication to make it?”
(8 + 8 + 8) = 24
8 (8 + 8 + 8)=192(Not it!)
8 (8 / 8 + 8 / 8 +8 /8)=24 (That is right!)
After lots of trial and error, I realized a few things:
- Parentheses are your best friend! They let you control the order of operations and get way more creative.
- Fractions can be super helpful. Dividing 8 by 8 to get 1 is a lifesaver.
- Sometimes you just get stuck. I couldn’t make every number, and that’s okay.
Giving Up (Temporarily)
After a while, my brain started to feel fried. I decided to take a break and come back to it later. Sometimes, a fresh perspective is all you need. It’s like when you’re looking for your keys and you can’t find them anywhere, but then you stop looking and suddenly they’re right in front of you. It’s also easy for you to come up with new ideas.
Final Thoughts
This whole “8 expression number” thing was a fun little exercise. It’s a good reminder that even simple things can be surprisingly challenging and that playing around with numbers can actually be pretty entertaining. I definitely recommend giving it a try if you’re looking for a little brain teaser. Just don’t expect to become a math wizard overnight!
