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Numbers are fun and challenging. Sometimes they are often confusing and can be manipulated and misrepresented, but at the end of the day mathematics is an exact science, and there is only one correct solution to a correct set of calculation and puzzle. There are many ways numbers are built for an IQ test. There are number sequences, magic squares, finding possibilities, etc. Number sequence or most commonly known as number series, is one of the most famous IQ challenges. As it says ‘sequence’, therefore the game is played as guessing what is the next number after another. One example is as follows: What number is next in this list? 0, 1, 8, 11, 69, 88, 96, 101, ?
Well the answer is simple. All
the numbers when turn upside down is still the same. Therefore the answer
to the sequence is 111. Another famous old-aged game using numbers is the magic square. It was first developed by the ancient Chinese, they are arrays of consecutive numbers in which all rows, columns and diagonals add up to the same total. The most famous of these is the order-3 ‘lo-shu’, which uses the numbers 1-9 once each only to form a 3x3 magic square in which horizontal, vertical and corner-to-corner line totals to 15. Can you figure out how the placing looks like?
Well the answer for this one look up in the answer section under N.(1). It is so unique that there is only one possible solution to the magic square – not counting rotations or reflections, of course, of which there are seven additional versions.
There are many other ways of using numbers or mathematical systems to make up an IQ challenge for all young and old. Below are some more challenging number games:-
N.(2) : What number is next in the list? – 1 , 2 , 5 , 8 , 11 , 22 , ?
N.(3) : At the athletic meeting, Britain beat Rumania by 35 points to 31. Under a new scoring system, Britain took 4 1st places, 3 2nd places and 1 3rd place. How many events were there and how was the points for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd allocated?
N.(4) : Six mathematicians sat around a table discussing their age. Those who were over 40 were truthful unless their ages are multiple of 17; those who were under 40 yrs of age lied unless their ages were divisible by 13. None of the mathematicians was over 70yrs old. The total of their ages was 261. Each mathematician said:
1. Number 5 is older than I am. 2. Number is 30 yrs younger than Number 1. 3. I am 51. 4. Number 3 is 52. I am not 29. 5. Number 1 is a prevaricator. Number 6 is 39. 6. Number 4 is wrong. Number 2 is 39 How old are they?
(All from BEAT THE IQ CHALLENGE by PHILIP J. C. & KEN A.R.) Answers:
N.(2) : 55 - these nos. appears the same when viewed upside down on a calculator.
N.(3) : 6 events scored 6 for 1st 3 for, 2nd and 2 for 3rd.
N.(4) : Their ages were: 1 – 38; 2 – 39; 3 – 68; 4 – 29; 5 – 26; 6 – 61.
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