do mathemticians consider sudoku and its brother math games?

Question

i love them and do mathamaticians consider them math games cause i also luv math i just haventy gotten into the dept of it

how can it not be math like when you can say that that letter is A then you know the alphebet which is english or language so if you can say that these numbers are 123456789 then you know numbers so techincally you know math right

Answer 1

Well I'm a mathematician so whatever I happen to think at the moment is the correct answer to this question. :)

To clarify some of this discussion, by "arithmetic" we mean the part of mathematics which only deals with the four basic operations +,-,x, and division. Note that Sudoku does not involve arithmetic in any obvious way, as do the "Cross Sum" puzzles, for instance.

But I would relate games such as Sudoku and Minesweeper to more of the "proof" aspect of mathematics. You have an abstract situation, requiring no outside knowledge, and need to make logical arguments to win the game. Such tasks are the bread and butter of higher mathematics, where you must justify everything carefully. In fact, if you exclude the rule that the little 3x3 boxes must have all nine digits, you have what are called Latin squares, which have been considered a part of mathematics for a long time.

To answer your question another way, I feel like I am using the "math part" of my brain when I solve sudoku puzzles, as opposed to the "linguistic part" when I solve crossword puzzles.

So yes, I consider it a math game, although arithmetic is not involved.

Hope this helps,

Steven

Answer 2

Sudoku has no math in it. It is simply recognizing 9 symbols and finding an arrangement of the pattern. you can do a Sudoku puzzle with letters or any 9 symols for that matter. So to answer your question, no. But they are fun!

Answer 3

Sudoku is a logic game. Math skills are not required at all. If you can recognize 1-9, you can solve the puzzle. (My 6-year-old nephew is a Sudoku master.)

Answer 4

Sudoku is not a math game..

But personally i feel it is more of a mind game testing your logic application..

Doing sudoku does exercise your brain.. Keeps your brain thinking constantly..

The same goes for jigsaw puzzles..


Cheers... (",)

Answer 5

They are pleasant diversions, but I don't think mathematicians consider them real math games. Anything that only uses arithmetic is probably not a serious game to mathematicians.

Keep studying math - there a re plenty of interesting math problems out there.

Answer 6

Logic is a branch of mathematics.