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A tougher puzzle

Hot Canuck

Hot Canuck

Saw this one on the Discovery Channel.

Sum all the numbers, from one to a million, without a calculator.

The show said it should take a day or two to figure out the formula(s)...and yes, when I watched the show the following week, they came up with a very complicated solution...math is not always as complicated as portrayed - I had the answer in 6 minutes, 2 of which were spent finding a pencil and paper...I'll give a tip - you need to visualize the problem...
 
Hot Canuck said:
yeah, but always with a calculator...I was never taught a formula...
Click to expand...
1,000,000 divided by 2 is 500,000, which is the number of pairs.
1,000,000 + 1 = 999,999 + 2 = 999,998 + 3, etc...
1,000,001 (1,000,000 + 1) x 500,000 (number of pairs) = 500,000,500,000 (the result)

If it's too hard for you, do it with 100 and add the zeros.

The other one took me about 10 - 15 minutes to solve. this one less than a minute.
 
That one show with the "exploding CD mystery" was my favorite. you just gotta love pieces of CDs flying all over, am I right? :lol:

BTW, should I edit my solution or something? maybe cap lover hasn't learned yet in school. :lol:
 
Omri said:
That one show with the "exploding CD mystery" was my favorite. you just gotta love pieces of CDs flying all over, am I right? :lol:

BTW, should I edit my solution or something? maybe cap lover hasn't learned yet in school. :lol:
Click to expand...

nah - it's not hard once you realize the middle is the key point...
 
Omri said:
That one show with the "exploding CD mystery" was my favorite. you just gotta love pieces of CDs flying all over, am I right? :lol:
Click to expand...

I had a cd explode years ago in one of the real early cd burners. It sounded like a shotgun going off. And yes, a million little pieces....thankfully it all stayed inside the drive. The sound alone will take a few years off your life.
 
bentalphanerd said:
I had a cd explode years ago in one of the real early cd burners. It sounded like a shotgun going off. And yes, a million little pieces....thankfully it all stayed inside the drive. The sound alone will take a few years off your life.
Click to expand...
Liar! it's pure fun! :lol:
 
Try this one...


A fellow encountered a bear in a wasteland. There was nobody else there. Both were frightened and ran away. Fellow to the north, bear to the west. Suddenly the fellow stopped, aimed his gun to the south and shot the bear. What colour was the bear?
 
Hot Canuck said:
Try this one...


A fellow encountered a bear in a wasteland. There was nobody else there. Both were frightened and ran away. Fellow to the north, bear to the west. Suddenly the fellow stopped, aimed his gun to the south and shot the bear. What colour was the bear?
Click to expand...
Some say white, some say ivory. :D
 
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