document.write( "Question 1180709: What is the next number?
\n" );
document.write( "240, 234, 78, 72 \n" );
document.write( "
Algebra.Com's Answer #810461 by greenestamps(13200)![]() ![]() You can put this solution on YOUR website! \n" ); document.write( "The other tutor is in fact right -- ANY next number will make a valid sequence. \n" ); document.write( "So this problem is a puzzle rather than a math problem that can be solved. \n" ); document.write( "However, you can get some good mental exercise by looking for patterns in the given numbers that suggest what A GOOD GUESS FOR THE NEXT NUMBER is. \n" ); document.write( "One pattern that should be easy to see is that 234 is 6 less than 240 and then 72 is 6 less than 78. \n" ); document.write( "So now look for a relationship between 234 and 78; it turns out that 78 is 234 divided by 3. \n" ); document.write( "So PERHAPS the given numbers follow the pattern \"subtract 6; divide by 3; repeat\". \n" ); document.write( "So a good guess for the next number is 72/3 = 24. \n" ); document.write( "But it is very possible that a very different pattern can be deduced from the given numbers that leads to a very different next number.... \n" ); document.write( "So whenever you see a problem like this, take a little time (if you want to) to try to GUESS a logical next number; but realize it is never possible to know if any answer you come up with is \"right\". \n" ); document.write( "And the corollary to that is that nobody can tell you that any answer you come up with is wrong.... \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " |