Directions: Using the digits 1 to 9, exactly one time each, place a digit in each box to make the sum as close to 1000 as possible.
Hint
How do you know you can’t get any closer to 1000? What should be true about the hundreds places of your three numbers? How do the tens places affect your answer?
Answer
Lots of answers will get you 999. One would be 247 + 563 + 189.
Is exactly 1000 even possible? Here’s a Geogebra tool you can use to check your answer.
Is exactly 1000 even possible? Here’s a Geogebra tool you can use to check your answer.
Source: John Ulbright and Robert Kaplinsky