This question requires creating a few equations and working through them step-by-step. Now, first let's give each of the shapes a variable: let's say that the blue shape is a, the orange shape is b and the green shape is c.

1. We can technically create six formulas for the magic square, with three for sum of the rows and three for the sum of the columns, however the smartest way to approach this is to observe whether there are any obvious answers that we can get.

We can see in row 2 that there are three of the same shape (a) that add to 57. This makes it very simple to calculate the value of the shape.

Since 3a = 57

a = 57/3 = 19

2. Now we need to find a row or column that includes a and one other shape; we could choose either column 2 or 3, so let's go with column 2. Remembering that the blue shape is a and the orange shape is b:

2a + b = 50

Now, given that a = 19:

2(19) + b = 50

38 + b = 50

b = 12

3. We can now take any of the rows or columns that include the third shape (c) since we already know the values of the other two shapes. Let's take column 1:

a + b + c = 38

19 + 12 + c = 38

31 + c = 38

c = 38 - 31

c = 7

Thus, the value of the blue shape is 19, the value of the orange shape is 12 and the value of the green shape is 7.

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3 years ago