The sum of a number and its reciprocal is equal to 4 times the reciprocal.

The reciprocal of a number is 1/the number.

Assume that the number is y

Now, we will translate the English wordings of the problem into an equation as follows:

y + (1/y) = 4 x (1/y) (multiply both sides by y to eliminate the denominators)

y^2 + 1 = 4

y^2 = 4-1 = 3

y = + / - sqrt (3) = + / - 1.732

Based on this,

either the number is 1.732

or the number is - 1.732