44 | Number Detective . 1

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Hey there! I'm Chychy.
Welcome to Number Detective.

My beat is the city streets. The job is to bring you the best numbers we can find out there. Then share all sorts of cool stuff about them with you.


Our first number is 44. I found it at the entrance to the musician's union hall on St. Botolph Street in the South End. It's funny how the number 44 looks all new and shiny but the wreath around it is all old and crumbly.

44 is a happy number! Did you know that there are happy :) and unhappy :( numbers? Me neither until I became a number detective. Here's how it works.

Take one of the digits in the number and square it - that is, multiply it by itself. Do the same with the other digits (if any), then add the squared numbers together. Repeat the process using that result.

If this process ends in 1 you have a happy number on your hands. This is the way we figured out that 44 is happy :).

16 (4x4) + 16 (4x4) = 32

9 (3x3) + 4 (2x2) = 13

1 (1x1) + 9 (3x3) = 10

1 (1x1) + 0 (0x0) = 1

If the sequence doesn't end in 1 it will just keep circling round and round like a lost puppy but never land on 1. That's an unhappy number.

Here are the first 100 happy numbers.
1, 7, 10, 13, 19, 23, 28, 31, 32, 44, 49, 68, 70, 79, 82, 86, 91, 94, 97, 100.

Fun fact for 44
In 44 AD - XLIV in Roman numerals - Rome, led by the emperor Claudius, invaded and occupied southeast England.