My first product group of five figures is 84,321. Here, as we have seen,
the root of each factor must be 3 or a multiple of 3. As there is no 6
or 9, the only single multiplier is 3. Now, the remaining four figures
can be arranged in 24 different ways, but there is no need to make 24
multiplications. We see at a glance that, in order to get a five-figure
product, either the 8 or the 4 must be the first figure to the left. But
unless the 2 is preceded on the right by the 8, it will produce when
multiplied either a 6 or a 7, which must not occur. We are, therefore,
reduced at once to the two cases, 3 x 4,128 and 3 x 4,281, both of which
give correct solutions. Suppose next that we are trying the two-figure
factor, 21. Here we see that if the number to be multiplied is under 500
the product will either have only four figures or begin with 10.
Therefore we have only to examine the cases 21 x 843 and 21 x 834. But
we know that the first figure will be repeated, and that the second
figure will be twice the first figure added to the second. Consequently,
as twice 3 added to 4 produces a nought in our product, the first case
is at once rejected. It only remains to try the remaining case by
multiplication, when we find it does not give a correct answer. If we
are next trying the factor 12, we see at the start that neither the 8
nor the 3 can be in the units place, because they would produce a 6, and
so on. A sharp eye and an alert judgment will enable us thus to run
through our table in a much shorter time than would be expected. The
process took me a little more than three hours.
I have not attempted to enumerate the solutions in the cases of six,
seven, eight, and nine digits, but I have recorded nearly fifty examples
with nine digits alone.
86.--QUEER MULTIPLICATION.
If we multiply 32547891 by 6, we get the product, 195287346. In both
cases all the nine digits are used once and once only.
87.--THE NUMBER CHECKS PUZZLE.
Divide the ten checks into the following three groups: 7 1 5--4 6--3 2 8
9 0, and the first multiplied by the second produces the third.
88.--DIGITAL DIVISION.
It is convenient to consider the digits as arranged to form fractions of
the respective values, one-half, one-third, one-fourth, one-fifth,
one-sixth, one-seventh, one-eighth, and one-ninth. I will first give the
eight answers, as follows:--
6729/13458 = 1/2
5823/17469 = 1/3
3942/15768 = 1/4
2697/13485 = 1/5
2943/17658 = 1/6
2394/16758 = 1/7
3187/25496 = 1/8
6381/57429 = 1/9
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account