Re: number sequence

On Thu, 01 Nov 2007 02:53:34 -0400, monkeys paw <noboey@xxxxxxxx>
wrote:

mensanator@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
On Oct 31, 11:15?pm, monkeys paw <nob...@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
Michael Press wrote:
In article
<mbqdnfsqNaI-67nanZ2dnUVZ_jCdn...@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
monkeys paw <nob...@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
I am recreationally trying to figure out this sequence, but cannot.
Would someone please complete this for me and explain:
1,9,25,__,81,100
a) 36
b) 45
c) 56
d) 64
42
Thank you
You are welcome.
Why 42?

It's the answer to the question of Life,
the Universe and Everything.

It is not one of the answers?

That's a joke, son.

Not a joke fella, In order to describe an integer sequence it must be
able to be written in formula notation:

x + (x+2)^2 + ((x+2)^2)^2 .... or some such, i'm still working on this
and i think it has to do with primes. Imploring help from the
non-flippant mathematical society, thanks again

The problem has no definite answer.

In fact, every one of the choices qualifies as a possible answer.

And so would any other number (for example 42).

In that sense, the problem is not well posed.

To see one method to which can be used to build formulas, look up
"Lagrange Interpolation".

As an experiment, evaluate each of the following functions for x = 1,
2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

a(x) = 120 ( -151 x^5 + 2525 x^4 - 15695 x^3 + 45115 x^2 - 57714 x
+ 26040 )

b(x) = 120 ( -61 x^5 + 995 x^4 - 6065 x^3 + 17485 x^2 - 22074 x +
9840 )

c(x) = 120 ( 49 x^5 - 875 x^4 + 5705 x^3 - 16285 x^2 + 21486 x -
9960 )

d(x) = 40 ( 43 x^5 - 745 x^4 + 4755 x^3 - 13615 x^2 + 17722 x -
8120 )

After you've performed the above evaluations, it should then be clear
that for the given multiple choice problem, none of the choices can be
eliminated.

quasi
.