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Next item in sequence?
| April 18th, 2014 at 8:14:02 PM permalink | |
| Mosca Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 22 Posts: 730 | Mosca: threadkiller. |
| April 19th, 2014 at 12:47:12 PM permalink | |
| blount2000 Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 5 Posts: 30 |
I was thinking this may be 'increasing levels of metal hardness', but I believe steel is harder than brass so that idea doesn't seem to hold water. Perhaps a hint? ;) |
| April 19th, 2014 at 1:11:52 PM permalink | |
| Pacomartin Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 1068 Posts: 12569 |
Hint: count and label the rows (including the missing one), and count the number of digits in each row. I used 8 question marks, because I didn't want to give away the number of digits, but I didn't mean to imply that the answer had 8 digits. |
| April 19th, 2014 at 4:11:50 PM permalink | |
| Mosca Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 22 Posts: 730 |
Each has taken the place of the preceding, over time. |
| April 19th, 2014 at 4:29:27 PM permalink | |
| Pacomartin Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 1068 Posts: 12569 |
The oldest steel production was about 4000 years ago, while brass was made in pre-history. You may not be ranking them by oldest examples, but by common usage. Although aluminum salts were used by Greeks and Romans, and it is an element, it was only a functional metal in the last two centuries. So I would go with aluminum. |
| April 19th, 2014 at 6:19:24 PM permalink | |
| Mosca Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 22 Posts: 730 | It's not their order of discovery; a common item was once made primarily of each, and is now made primarily of something else. But now it is probably easy to guess what is next in sequence. |
| April 19th, 2014 at 6:25:06 PM permalink | |
| blount2000 Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 5 Posts: 30 |
ZINC (The primary component of a penny coin)? I was thinking it may have had something to do with casino slot tokens, but as I searched around it started to look more like it may be the penny. That still may not be correct, though. I'm still working on trying to figure out Paco's math sequence problem. I'm hoping the light will come on in my mind and the answer will become clear. No such luck yet, though! |
| April 19th, 2014 at 9:12:47 PM permalink | |
| Mosca Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 22 Posts: 730 | ZINC is correct. Pennies were copper until the 1860s, bronze until 1942, steel in 1943, brass from 1944 to 1981, and zinc from '81 to present. Of course brass and bronze are 95% copper. Bronze is 5% zinc, brass is 5% tin and zinc. |
| April 20th, 2014 at 5:32:11 AM permalink | |
| blount2000 Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 5 Posts: 30 |
I believe I have the answer, but I had to really cheat (google) to get it. If I recall correctly, Paco has a post-graduate degree in mathematics and I'd like to think that I would have needed one myself in order to figure out this problem. But I have a sneaking suspicion that this is something I should have been able to answer without an advanced math degree. What do you think, Paco? Was this an advanced-level math problem, or have I just forgotten more than I care to admit (as a non-math major)? The answer (32) is below. It is a list of the integer sequence "14 in base 14-n". 13. 11111111111111 12. 1110 11. 112 10. 32 <------- 9. 24 8. 22 7. 20 6. 16 5. 15 4. 14 3. 13 2. 12 1. 11 0. 10 |
| April 20th, 2014 at 7:30:06 AM permalink | |
| TheCesspit Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 23 Posts: 1929 |
32 Base 1,2,3,4.... Finally got it. It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die.... it's called Life |