2, 4, 6, 8

Jane and Sanjev sent us the following answer:

First we tried to make a statement using the plus on one side of the equals sign and the minus on the other, but we couldn't find one.

Then we tried to use the plus and the minus on the same side, and we got 2 + 8 - 6 = 4.

Then we tried to see what statements we could make starting with the number 2 :

2 + 4 = 6
2 + 6 = 8
2 + 8 - 4 = 6
2 + 8 - 6 = 4

We could not find any more.

Then we tried to start with the number 4 :

4 + 2 = 6
4 + 6 - 8 = 2
4 + 6 - 2 = 8

and with the number 6 :

6 + 2 = 8
6 + 4 - 2 = 8
6 + 4 - 8 = 2

and with the number 8 :

8 + 2 - 4 = 6
8 + 2 - 6 = 4
8 - 2 = 6
8 - 6 = 2

And then we can write them all the other way round, so from 2 + 4 = 6 we get 6 = 2 + 4.

That way we made 28 statements.

We have then had a solution from Amelia Earhart Class Year 2 at Newport C of E Primary School, Isle of Wight