4-2^2+5x3-2=11
Discussion
ash73 said:
Gave this problem to my Dad, who's 82, to ponder over Sunday dinner. After just a few minutes his response was you don't need any brackets just use base 12! I hadn't told him about the base 8 solution either. Bless him.
Spot on, and good for him - you just need BODMAS - I hope I have sufficient brain cells left at that age to be able to do likewise.By the way, base 16 works as well (though not without brackets - base 12 must be the only one that achieves that).
So are there other bases that provide solutions - and is there a way of finding them other than trial and error ?
They didn't specify the type of bracket...
The vertical line is classed as a mathematical bracket and used for absolute value.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mathematical...
Absolute value is the distance between X and 0 and will always be a positive value. So....
(4(-(2^2)))+(5x(3-2)) = -11
Then
|(4(-(2^2)))+(5x(3-2))| = 11
If the brackets needed to be both sides this is valid also
|(4(-(2^2)))+(5x(3-2))| = |11|
The vertical line is classed as a mathematical bracket and used for absolute value.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mathematical...
Absolute value is the distance between X and 0 and will always be a positive value. So....
(4(-(2^2)))+(5x(3-2)) = -11
Then
|(4(-(2^2)))+(5x(3-2))| = 11
If the brackets needed to be both sides this is valid also
|(4(-(2^2)))+(5x(3-2))| = |11|
Edited by Willlll on Monday 15th October 23:05
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