NOTES 99

References
1. W. H. McCrea, Analytical geometry of three dimensions, Oliver and
Boyd (1960).
2. R. Shail, A proof of Lester's theorem, Math. Gaz. 85 (July 2001)
pp. 226-232.
3. G. Salmon, A treatise on the analytic geometry of three dimensions,
Hodges, Foster & Co, Dublin (1874).
J. A. SCOTT
1 Shiptons Lane, Great Somerford, Chippenham SN15 5EJ

89.26 Construction of Pythagorean magic squares

A magic square is a square matrix in which the sum of the rows,
columns, and diagonals is the same. The matrix M below is an order-3
magic square with a magic sum S = 15.
/ 2 9 4\
M = 7 5 3
\ 6 1 8,
Three magic squares, A, B, C, are said to be Pythagorean if
(Ay)2 + (Bijf = (C,y)2. For example, the three squares given below are
Pythagorean.
6 27 12 8 36 16 10 45 20
A= 21 15 9 B= 28 20 12 C = 35 25 15
18 3 24 24 4 32 30 6 40
It can easily be observed that the square of an element in C equals the
sum of the squares of the corresponding elements in A and B. For example,
272 + 362 = 452.
A multiplication magic square is a square matrix in which the product of
the rows, columns, and diagonals is the same. The matrix M below is an
order-3 multiplication magic square with a magic product P = 216.
/ 18 1 12 \
M = 4 6 9
\ 3 36 2,
There is a simple algorithm for constructing magic and multiplication magic
squares of any odd order called the De la Loubere method. For an
explanation of this method as well as methods of constructing even order
squares see [1].
Similarly we can define three multiplication magic squares to be
Pythagorean if (Ay)2 + (Bijf = (Cy)2. The three multiplication magic
squares below are Pythagorean.
54 3 36 72 4 48 90 5 60
= 12 18 27 B= 16 24 36 C = 20 30 45
9 108 6 12 144 8 15 180 10

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 100 THE MATHEMATICAL GAZETTE
The magic constant of A is 5832, the magic constant of B is 13824 and the
magic constant of C is 27000. Once again, it can be easily observed that the
square of a cell in C equals the sum of the squares of the corresponding cells
in A and B. For example, 542 + 722 = 902.
Pythagorean magic and multiplication magic squares can be constructed
as follows:
Step 1. Select an order n magic or multiplication magic square M.
Step 2. Select a Pythagorean triple x, v, z such that x < y < z.
Step 3. Set A = xM,B = yM,C = zM.
The Pythagorean squares given earlier were obtained by selecting the
following two squares,
92 4 18 1 12
M = 7 5 3, M = 4 6 9
6 1 8 3 36 2
and x = 3, v = 4 and z = 5 as the Pythagorean triple.
Given a magic square M of order N, a new magic square M' can be
formed from the original one by adding the entries in (N - 1) x (N - 1)
blocks. The (i, j) entry in M' is obtained by deleting the elements in row i
and column j and adding the entries in the remaining block. Proving that the
new square M' is indeed a magic square can be done quite easily. A
complete proof of this result can be found in [2], Below is a magic square
M and the corresponding square M' obtained as described above.
2 9 4 17 24 19
M = 7 5 3 M' = 22 20 18
6 1 8 21 16 23
Applying this procedure to the three Pythagorean magic squares given
earlier we get:
51 72 57 68 96 76 85 120 95
A= 66 60 54 B= 88 80 72 C= 110 100 90
63 48 69 84 64 92 105 80 115
It is interesting to note that the squares above are not only magic but
they are also Pythagorean. They are obviously Pythagorean, since they are
the product of a magic square and a Pythagorean triple. In this example, the
squares A, B, C can be obtained by multiplying M' by 3, 4, 5 respectively.
Doing the same for the three multiplication magic squares given earlier we
get:
159 54 147 212 72 196 265 90 245
A= 153 105 174 B= 204 140 232 C= 255 175 290
84 129 87 112 172 116 140 215 145
Although the three squares obtained here are neither magic nor
multiplication magic, they are still Pythagorean squares. That is, the square
of a cell in A plus the square of a cell in B equals the square of a cell in C.

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 NOTES 101

References
1. Donald Spencer, Computers in number theory, Computer Science Press,
Rockville, Maryland (1982).
2. Emanuel Emanouilidis, More magic squares, Journal of Recreational
Mathematics 27(3) (1995) pp. 179-180.
EMANUEL EMANOUILIDIS
Dept of Mathematics and Computer Science, Kean University, Union, NJ 07083 USA

89.27 What's the quickest route from A to B?

It is natural to assume that the quickest way for a ferry to cross a
flowing river is to direct the vessel's motion continuously towards its
destination, and similarly an aircraft flying in a crosswind would adopt the
same strategy in choosing the fastest route from A to B. However, while this
result is certainly very plausible, is it really so obviously true? In these and
similar situations the craft has ground velocity w = V + v where V is the
velocity of the surrounding medium (river or wind) and v is the velocity of
the craft relative to that medium. The magnitude of the latter (the craft's
speed v) is fixed and so, if V = 0, it is clear that the optimum route is the
straight line AB, since w = v and the distance AB is less than AC + CB for
any point C not lying on the line segment AB. However, when V * 0 this
simple argument breaks down since the ground speed w (= |V + v|) is now
no longer isotropic. Rather, it varies between v - V and v + V, depending
on the angle between v and V, and so the fact that AB is less than AC + CB
no longer necessarily implies that the straight line AB is the quickest route.
In order to prove that AB is in fact the quickest route, we must consider an
arbitrary route and show that it always takes longer than the straight line
route AB. Thus, the basic result we need to prove is that, if t (PQ) is the time
to travel from P to Q in a straight line, then
t(AC) + t(CB) > t{AB) (1)

FIGURE 1
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