Final answer:
The sum of the numbers in the magic square is determined by finding the average of all the numbers in the square and multiplying it by the number of cells. In this case, the sum is 9 times the average of the numbers, which is 45. Therefore, the correct answer is (a) 34.
Step-by-step explanation:
The legend of Emperor Yu Huang and the magic square on the back of a turtle originates from Chinese mythology. In this legend, the magic square is a 3x3 grid where each row, column, and diagonal add up to the same sum. The sum of the numbers in the magic square can be determined by finding the average of all the numbers in the square and multiplying it by the number of cells, which is 9 in this case. Therefore, the sum of the numbers in the magic square is 9 times the average of the numbers in the square.
To calculate the average, we add up all the numbers in the square and divide by the number of cells. In this case, the magic square has numbers ranging from 1 to 9. Adding them up, we get 1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9 = 45. Dividing 45 by 9, we get an average of 5. So, the sum of the numbers in the magic square is 9 times 5, which equals 45.
Therefore, the correct answer is (a) 34.