Scientific American - Mind Games



Hi All,

there were a couple of interesting puzzles this month.

1. Take the variables a, b, c, ..., i (first 8 variables)

The sum of any three consecutive variables is 16.

With b = 9 and f = 2, what are the values of the remaining variables?

2. The smallest number with four factors is 6: 1, 2, 3, 6

The smallest number with six factors is 12: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 12

What is the smallest number with 100 factors?

They should be easy!

Enjoy ~A
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