A little puzzle

[xmastree]

Just got sent this in an email.

It is said that engineers take 3 minutes to resolve this, architects 3 hours and doctors 6 hours (and bankers can't get it...) . If you guess which the 6th number is, you'll be able to open the excel file. Once you discover it, put in your name, save it and send it on...


Which is the 6th number?
1, 2, 6, 42, 1806, ___???


I got it right in a couple of minutes. 8) But as I don't have excel I can't do much with the file. Well, I can save and open it with OO but can't then save with the password. :dead:

[billygoat333]

it was actually pretty easy to figure out. lol

[xmastree]

It is said that engineers take 3 minutes to resolve this, architects 3 hours and doctors 6 hours (and bankers can't get it...)

[slaveofconvention]

I got it (I think - can't check without the excel file, but my answer makes mathematical sense) in well under a minute....
Have to say, I think the line about how long it takes to solve it is probably nonsense - I can't see many people, if any, sitting around for 6 hours trying to solve a math problem, irrespective of occupation.

Click and drag right from the arrow for my answer ---> 3263442

[Xpirate]

I am an engineer and it took me at least two minutes to figure out the sequence. The answer I got matches slaveofconvention's.

[Drum Thumper]

Took me 30 seconds tops. But then again, I remember a certain set of tables that got beat into my head in grade school too.

[XcOM]

i got it in just over a minute, and my answer also matches slave, and it does inface make sence.

just need the excel file to test this

[xmastree]

You're all correct. Do you really need the file?

http://www.cginternet.net/tbcs/Matematico 1.xls

[slaveofconvention]

Not for me - for anyone who's interested, I figured it out so quickly, probably by luck as much as anything else - these puzzles, you either start at the start and work forward, or at the end and work back - I just happened to start at the end - when there's THAT big a difference in numbers in a sequence, it's almost always multiplication/division. I'm not that smart, just got lucky :p

[xmastree]

I started in the middle, getting from 6 to 42, figured out ways of doing that then applied them to the numbers either side.

[Xpirate]

I used the Carlos Alberto Martins method. I did not know that a different method would get the same answer.

[mtekk]

Once I actually got a pencil and paper out, used a relation tree method the solution came really quick (about a minute or so, took two simultaneous trees).

The only difficult thing with it is that you need to look at two different relation sets (trees) that are at different levels in the trees. However, it didn't have anything of the n! sort or c^n sort (c is an integer constant, n is an integer that is incremented from some starting number to some ending number) which are the two that I'm used to seeing.

I fumbled around in my head with a n! sequence before I got the pencil and paper out. It fits the first three, then the sequence out accelerates n! and n^n.

[billygoat333]

I just looked for a pattern, pulled out the trusty calculator and did the last calculation to get the last number, then rechecked my math. lol took 30 sec or so. I love patterns like this though, and am usually really good at picking them up.

[slaveofconvention]

My wife just got it too, in about a minute - and she's a redneck barmaid :p

[Will]

n^2 + n is what I was thinking.

[SXRguyinMA]

3263442, easy enough, took me about 3 mins, but I'm no engineer lol

[crenn]

n=(n-1)^2+(n-1)

[rendermandan]

Got it in about a minute.

[Eclecticos]

Received my September 2009 Issue of CPU Magazine today.
Features your Dark Carbon Project. Resistance is Futile on Page.42
Wondering if I can FedEx it to you for an Autograph.

[luciusad2004]

God I hate sequences. I just can't ever pick up on patterns in these things. : ( Always made me feel like an idiot in math class.

[knowledgegranted]

No lie I got his almost instantly....well doing a whole sequence math class this year probably helped lol...

Click and drag below for answer..

3263442

[Crazy Buddhist]

> 1 minute

I guess I'm only 1/3 of an engineer :dead:

[BuzzKillington]

I still can't get the puzzle doing it mentally. My brain is jello, I just finished finals for condensed summer courses.

[pcclan]

it's so simple the answer all you do is add one the the number you want to multiply ep 1*2=2 2*3=6 6*7=42 42*43=1806 and the last is 1806*1807= the final answer

[luciusad2004]

it's so simple the answer all you do is add one the the number you want to multiply ep 1*2=2 2*3=6 6*7=42 42*43=1806 and the last is 1806*1807= the final answer

I would have never seen that...

[Crazy Buddhist]

I would have never seen that...

You need to stand on your head and do some more random things perhaps. :D

Each number = the number before x (the number before + 1)

Easiest way to see the pattern is at the end 1806/42 = 43

CB

[xmastree]

God I hate sequences.

Speaking of sequences, where does this post fit in?


Received my September 2009 Issue of CPU Magazine today.
:? :rolleyes:

[chaksq]

Easy enough, even though i quit engineering.