Solution #35: Chinese Numbers

Any number n equal to or smaller than 26 must certainly be smaller than 3³ = 27. It can therefore be broken down (in base 3) in the following manner:

n = (0 or 1 or 2) x 3⁰ + (0 or 1 or 2) x 3¹ + (0 or 1 or 2) x 3²

In other words

n = (0 or 1 or 2) + (0 or 3 or 6) + (0 or 9 or 18)

Thus all number that have a "1" in their makeup will be found in the first square, all number that have a "2" in the second square, a "3" in the third square, a "6" in the fourth square, a "9" in the fifth, and an "18" in the sixth.

The number n can therefore be found by adding the numbers at the top left-hand corner of the squares where n appears.

Source: Berrondom, Marie
Categories: Number sense, Magic

[Top | Problem]