Need solution/explanation to a mathematical problem

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Garlak
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Need solution/explanation to a mathematical problem

Post by Garlak »

I've been trying to figure this pattern out for a while. Thus far I've only succeeded in making myself feel stupid. So, I'm hoping somebody here can solve it and explain what's it about.


The problem is this: "The numbers in each column below are derived in the same way. Find out the missing number and explain how you did it."

999 998 997 996
729 648 567 486
126 192 210 192
12 , 18 , ??? , 18

If I didn't screw it up, the numbers should be in a 4 by 4 'table' (I didn't know how to make a table so just hit spacebar). So, what is the missing number and how do you figure out? Ignore the commas; I just put them in to try to help with the arrangement.
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Zadius
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Re: Need solution/explanation to a mathematical problem

Post by Zadius »

Looks like the missing number is 0. Each number in the table is the product of the digits of the number above it. 9*9*7 = 567, 5*6*7 = 210, 2*1*0 = 0.
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CaptainChewbacca
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Re: Need solution/explanation to a mathematical problem

Post by CaptainChewbacca »

Yep, its 0.
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Garlak
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Re: Need solution/explanation to a mathematical problem

Post by Garlak »

Ugh. Yep, now I do feel stupid. Should've realized it upon seeing that everynumber in the second row differed by 81...

Well, thanks a lot for answering.
I went to the librarian and asked for a book about stars ... And the answer was stunning. It was that the Sun was a star but really close. The stars were suns, but so far away they were just little points of light ... The scale of the universe suddenly opened up to me. It was a kind of religious experience. There was a magnificence to it, a grandeur, a scale which has never left me. Never ever left me.
~Carl Sagan
TheLostVikings
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Re: Need solution/explanation to a mathematical problem

Post by TheLostVikings »

Garlak wrote:Ugh. Yep, now I do feel stupid. Should've realized it upon seeing that everynumber in the second row differed by 81...

Well, thanks a lot for answering.
Well if it's any comfort it is better to ask a question and feel stupid once, than to stay silent and feel stupid for the rest of your life :wink:
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