Solution

161537

First name
Daniel Langley
School
Derby Grammar School
Country
Age
0

I have found 24 different solutions.
My Magic Vs’ bottom number is always an odd number. This is because 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 = 15. If you subtract an even number from 15, you will get an odd number. You can’t split an odd number equally between 2 - eg, if we tried to put 2 as the bottom number, then we would need to split 13 into two equal parts, which you cannot do with whole numbers.
First, I worked out how many numbers could be in the bottom circle, and the answer was 3. For each number at the bottom, there were 8 different solutions. 3 numbers x 8 solutions = 24 solutions.
Then, I tried to think about the possibilities:
The bottom number can only be 1 of 3 (1, 3 or 5)
Then, the top number on 1 of the arms can be any one of the 4 numbers left
There is then only one choice for the number below the top number (otherwise the sides won't add up the same)
On the other arm, the last two numbers can be placed in 2 different ways
This makes 3 x 4 x 1 x 2 = 24

When I did a Magic V with the numbers 1 - 7, I found out that the bottom number has to be an even number. This is because adding up 1 to 7 equals 28, so the bottom number has to be even so that the remainder can be split equally.