Here's an interesting problem.
If you were given a random 4 numbers ranging from 1 to 13 (You can get the same number multiple times), create a valid arithmetic expression with exactly 4 numbers with 3 basic operators such as +,-,*,/ (Can be used multiple times too) and necessary parentheses to get the target number 24. If it is not possible, get a result closest to target number.
The question is, is there any algebraic theory or rule you can apply to reduce the number of trial and errors to solve this problem?
Thank you in advance.