A magic square of the third order has three rows and three columns
containing nine spaces. We can construct a 3 x 3 magic square by
following the rules given below.
Step 1:
Use the numerals of consecutive integers.
Step 2:
Being the construction by putting
the first numeral in the middle of the first row.
Step 3:
Move from cell to cell by going up
and to the right one step at a time.
Step 4:
When a move takes you out at the
top of the square, drop down to the lowest cell in that column.
Step 5:
When a move takes you out at the
right of the square, shift to the cell extreme left in that
row.
Step 6:
When a move takes you to a cell already
filled, drop down one row instead.
Step 7:
When a move takes you to the upper
right hand corner drop down one row instead.
Sum of the numbers in the third order
= 1/2 (33
+ 3) = 1/2 (27 + 3) = 15
In a magic square of third order
the sum of each row, column and diagonal is 15 when we start
with number 1.
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