Can you replace the letters with 10 consecutive primes such that the sum of numbers on each line is equal? I expect this to be solved with a computer.
Good luck!
$\begingroup$
$\endgroup$
11
asked Oct 12, 2019 at 23:58
-
5$\begingroup$ Is there any method to solve this besides trial and error? $\endgroup$– Deusovi ♦Commented Oct 13, 2019 at 2:35
-
5$\begingroup$ For the record can you please stop criticizing every puzzle I post. Yes I like mathematical puzzles and some of them require a bit of trial and error. I don't see anything wrong with that. Also I think it is ok to solve puzzles with a computer. In fact there are some very clever algorithms that allow you to reduce the search space and find the solution faster. For me coding/developing such algorithms is part of the fun, especially if you can use them to solve larger cases and push the boundaries of your knowledge. $\endgroup$– Dmitry KamenetskyCommented Oct 13, 2019 at 2:43
-
5$\begingroup$ I like mathematical puzzles too. But for something to be a puzzle, it should permit a clever "aha moment" that leads to the solution. What makes a good puzzle is a "path" to the solution, somehow "built into" the puzzle. Questions that require large amounts of trial and error don't satisfy that, in my view. $\endgroup$– Deusovi ♦Commented Oct 13, 2019 at 2:45
-
6$\begingroup$ Your "Paint 7 cells of a 7x7 grid" had a very nice path to the solution (though I don't know whether it was intended). But I'm critical of this (and similar puzzles) because I don't think it has an "aha moment", or a natural "path" to the solution. If the intended way to solve something is brute-force search (or mostly brute-force search), I don't think it's very good as a puzzle. It may be a great programming challenge for a site such as Project Euler, but that does not make it a puzzle. $\endgroup$– Deusovi ♦Commented Oct 13, 2019 at 2:51
-
5$\begingroup$ I agree with @Deusovi on this one, as manually solving it is practically impossible. If you intended for this to be solved with a computer, you should say so and present it as a coding challenge. As it is, one might expect to find a solution in small primes. Woe unto them. $\endgroup$– Daniel MathiasCommented Oct 13, 2019 at 3:04
|
Show 6 more comments
1 Answer
$\begingroup$
$\endgroup$
1
First, this image shows examples of translation that preserves the summed groups. As mentioned in comment, there are $12$ equivalent arrangements in this class.
Here is a solution set:
A=13907
B=13913
C=13997
D=13999
E=13921
F=13933
G=13963
H=14009
I=13931
J=13967
There are seven other solution sets with primes less than 100,000 and countless more with larger primes.
answered Oct 13, 2019 at 20:55
-
$\begingroup$ You got it! The first answer had a bug, but this one is correct. Feel free to post other solution sets. $\endgroup$ Commented Oct 13, 2019 at 21:45