5
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There are 4 equations. What should I put in place of the ? in the last one?

1 + 4 = 5
5 + 3 = 11
7 * 7 = 61
10 - 1 = ?
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5
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    $\begingroup$ Is this an original question? If not, you should put the source in your puzzle text just to give due credit to its original author. $\endgroup$
    – Xenocacia
    Mar 14, 2018 at 6:54
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    $\begingroup$ My mother-in-law is author. How should I credit her? $\endgroup$ Mar 14, 2018 at 7:01
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    $\begingroup$ @asiniy Are you sure the second equation is not 5+3=10? $\endgroup$
    – rhsquared
    Mar 14, 2018 at 7:34
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    $\begingroup$ @asiniy You already did. Just by stating who's the author is crediting him/her. $\endgroup$
    – Paul Karam
    Mar 14, 2018 at 7:49
  • $\begingroup$ Has a correct answer been given? If so, please don't forget to $\color{green}{\checkmark \small\text{Accept}}$ it. If not, some responses to the answerers to help steer them in the right direction would be helpful. $\endgroup$
    – Rubio
    Mar 17, 2018 at 1:42

5 Answers 5

8
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It looks to me like a simple octal calculation (i.e. base-8), assuming that there was an error on the second line. If this is the case then the answer is 7.

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  • $\begingroup$ so you mean calculate in decimal then convert to Octal/Base 8? $\endgroup$ Mar 14, 2018 at 10:59
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    $\begingroup$ @ALinuxLover No, I mean all the numbers are Base 8. $\endgroup$
    – rhsquared
    Mar 14, 2018 at 11:31
  • $\begingroup$ oh ok makes more sense heh $\endgroup$ Mar 14, 2018 at 11:50
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I guess the answer provided by @rhsquared is correct provided the OP corrects the question. But a more far fetched answer by assumption is

9 = 10-1 = 49 - (8*5) - From Normal Maths 10-1 = (7*7) - [(1+4)*(5+3)] - Rearrangement 10-1 = 61 - [5*8] -Substitution from above rules 10-1 = 61 - 55= 6. -Substitution from above rules & From Normal Maths

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I think that one possible answer to the equations can be:

(Given data) + (3 * n * n) in which the n represents the iteration number, starting by 0.
(1 + 4) + (3 * 0 * 0) = 5 + 0 = 5 -> Iteration 0
(5 + 3) + (3 * 1 * 1) = 8 + 3 = 11 -> Iteration 1
(7 * 7) + (3 * 2 * 2) = 49 + 12 = 61 -> Iteration 2
(10 - 1) + (3 * 3 * 3) = 9 + 27 = 36 -> Iteration 3
Then, the answer is 36.

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One possible answer using the previous answer and 2 to the power of the line index:

1 + 4 = 5
5 + 3 = 11 = 8 + (5-2^1)
7 * 7 = 61 = 49 + (11+5-2^2)
10 - 1 = 78 = 9 + (61+11+5-2^3)

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  • $\begingroup$ But what if the last sum is alternating, where $10 - 1 = 38 = 9 + (61 - 11 + 5 - 2^3)\,?$ $\endgroup$
    – Mr Pie
    Mar 21, 2018 at 5:49
  • $\begingroup$ @user477343 an infinite number of solutions exist, and therefore an infinite number of "what ifs". The simplest solutions are preferred. $\endgroup$
    – SwiftPanda
    Mar 21, 2018 at 19:46
  • $\begingroup$ Yeah, I guess you might be right then. Perhaps the pattern was subtracting by $2^n$ instead of $2^n$ being the last summand of an alternating sum. My answer above was an entirely new pattern that I found, so maybe there are infinitely many patterns... $\endgroup$
    – Mr Pie
    Mar 21, 2018 at 20:50
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I think the answer is

$10 - 1 = 23$

This is because,

The first prime after $(1 + 4) - 1 = 4$ is $5$. Notice that first corresponds to $1 = 2^0$. $\quad\qquad$ The second prime after $(5 + 3) - 3 = 5$ is $11$. Notice that second corresponds to $2 = 2^1$. $\quad$ The fourth prime after $(7\times 7) - 5 = 44$ is $61$. Notice that fourth corresponds to $4 = 2^2$.

Now, we do as follows:

We look at the fourth expression, namely ($10 - 1$), and then we subtract this by the next odd number from $5$, namely $7$, to make $$(10 - 1) - 7 = 2.$$ And now since $2^3 = 8$, we find the $8^\text{th}$ prime number after $2$, which is $23$. $$\therefore 10 - 1 = 23$$

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