Calculation puzzle 006

Question

Find the number which corresponds to the place indicated by the question mark.

|   3   |   9   |   12   |   2   |   4   |
|----------------------------------------|
|   2   |   7   |   14   |   3   |   6   |
|----------------------------------------|
|   8   |   6   |   7    |   2   |   7   |
|----------------------------------------|
|   5   |   7   |   ?    |   3   |   9   |

There is some pattern to be found in order to solve these types of questions. They are generally asked in university entrance examinations for international students in Turkey. I think, I have seen it last year in one those exams or preparatory exams, because I get the screenshot of a question when I can't solve it. They are called YÖS exams in Turkey.

I tried it on my own but couldn't find answer. In 3rd and 4th row, 1st and 2nd column, 8x7=56; in the 1st and 2nd row, 1st and 2nd column, 3x9=27 and that may apply to 3rd & 4th row, 4th & 5th column also; well, basically you need to find some connection or pattern between those numbers. They are not difficult once you find a clue. Good luck!

PS: I'm tired of indirectly making advertisement of university entrance exams and companies preparing for them. Is there any other way of citing the source so that I can avoid mentioning the names of the companies, universities and exams in my questions?

Answer 1

Answer

14

Explanation

Each row follows this pattern:
Row 1: $3-9+12-2=4$
Row 2: $2-7+14-3=6$
Row 3: $8-6+7 -2=7$
Row 4: $5-7+x -3=9$

So, we just need to solve for $x$ which is easy enough:
$x=9-5+7+3 = 14$