Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Shine on March 1, 2010 at 2:04pm

144. But I resorted to a calculator to do 16 x 9, so I'm sure that knocks my IQ well below 120. But it was a fun teaser. :) Do you ever do the Brain Games on mentalfloss.com? There is a new one every day, and sometimes there are math pattern puzzles like this. (Today's puzzle just happens to be a math square; they seem to be common lately.)

Permalink Reply by DWatts on March 1, 2010 at 2:12pm

I haven't been to that site before, but now that I know of it there is one more site to waste my time in. Thanks a lot!

No really, thanks, its a cool site.

Permalink Reply by Shine on March 1, 2010 at 2:52pm

I have definitely wasted plenty of time on mentalfloss.com, enjoy! :D Be prepared for oodles and oodles of largely useles--yet nonetheless fascinating--trivia. But there are some really informative articles, too.

Permalink Reply by Michel-san on March 1, 2010 at 6:20pm

Fun to figure out!

I wonder where the IQ claim comes from since the problem is largely a case of guess and check.

Permalink Reply by Michel-san on March 1, 2010 at 6:57pm

Interestingly enough there are at most 15 degree 2 polynomials that give the same results. Anyone setting this question would need to see which of the 15 exist, and verify that their intended answer is indeed the simplest one. Or maybe there's a nicer looking higher order polynomial hmm...

Permalink Reply by Velogiraptor on March 1, 2010 at 10:51pm

144 there's a pattern here. ;)

Permalink Reply by Christopher McGuire on April 9, 2010 at 5:24am

It's 144. Come on now, I figured this out in like 3 minutes flat (without a calculator). Really though, I love problems like this, they're a lot of fun. Have a great day, and stay rational!

Permalink Reply by onyango makagutu on October 24, 2012 at 5:10am

It's easy once you notice the pattern. My I.Q must be above 120