Make 56 with four 4s

The classic four fours puzzle: build an expression from exactly four 4s that equals 56. 56 cannot be made with + - × ÷ alone (the solver checked every expression) — you will need to stick 4s together (like 44) or use decimals (like .4).

Solutions using only + - × ÷

No expression made of four plain 4s and + - × ÷ reaches 56 — the solver checked every possible expression.

Solutions with concatenation and decimals

4 × (4 + 4 / .4) = 56

Solutions with square roots, factorials, exponents

4! + 4! + 4 + 4 = 56
4! + 4 + 4 + 4! = 56
4 + 4! + 4 + 4! = 56
4 + 4 + 4! + 4! = 56
4! + 4 × (4 + 4) = 56

…and 96 more at this tier.

102 distinct solutions found in total, after removing trivial rearrangements.

How 56 compares

56 has 102 distinct solutions across all three tiers — #38 most plentiful of the 95 solvable targets. Next door, 55 has 39 solutions and 57 has 4 solutions. The nearest impossible target is 73, 17 away — proven unreachable, not just unsolved.

If 56 went down easily, make 55 with four 4s — 39 solutions, the nearest step up in scarcity.

Make 55 with four 4s · Make 57 with four 4s

The Number Lab

Same idea, different constraints: four 9s, four 4s, or any four digits you like.

Four Nines — the daily puzzle
Four Nines solver — every target, solved
Four Fours — the 1881 original
Four Fours solver — including the impossible five
Make 24 solver — any four digits
Today's 24 — one new hand a day

Got what you came for?

Stay for something you did not search for.

Four Nines — the daily sibling: four 9s, one target, new at midnight
The Reflex Lab — nine ways to measure your hands and memory, none of them polite about it
hand me something weird — a random pick from the directory. Could be the horse.

Read up on the 1881 original, pick another number in the solver, or find more free math games.