Only One Person In A Thousand Can Solve This Math Question

By Editorial Staff in Puzzle On 4th January 2017
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#1 Get comfortable in your chair, grab a piece of paper and a pencil, and get to it — but remember to take your time.

#2 Guess?

The answer you come up with will fill you with either a great deal of satisfaction or a sense of complete confusion.

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#3 Ready to find out what the two possible answers are?

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#4 Well, take a look:

To the sum of every equation we add the sum of the previous one:

1 + 4 = 5

5 + 2 + 5 = 12

12 + 3 + 6 = 21

21 + 8 + 11 = 40

In this way, we end up with one of the correct answers: 40.

We use the formula: a + b = a + a(b).

1 + (4 × 1) = 5

2 + (5 × 2) = 12

3 + (6 × 3) = 21

8 + (8 × 11) = 96

This is how we find the other possible correct answer: 96.

Most people come up with the second solution. How did you do?

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