I hesitated to add this because it’s poorly worded, ambiguous and the answer could be almost anything. I prefer teasers with a single answer, but there you go.
If you came up with a different answer and can explain how you did it, don’t think you’re wrong. It’s probably just as valid. Feel free to share yours in the comments.
My answer for the first number is 2.
Here’s how I got it.
The generic rule for a number in the sequence is: 2^(n – 1) + 1, where n is the position in the sequence.
Note: The teaser doesn’t specify the position of 17. In this case, it’s fifth.
Position 1: (so n = 1) is 2^(1 – 1) + 1 = 2
Position 2: 2^(2 – 1) + 1 = 3
Position 3: 2^(3 – 1) + 1 = 5
Position 4: 2^(4 – 1) + 1 = 9
Position 5: 2^(5 – 1) + 1 = 17
For the curious, the next 5 numbers of the sequence would be:
The letter H. It completes the list of letters that are vertically symmetrical. In other words, you can fold the top half of the letter over the bottom half and everything lines up.
You have four chains. Each chain has three links in it. Although it is difficult to cut the links, you wish to make a single loop with all 12 links. What is the fewest number of cuts you must make to accomplish this task?
Ten seconds is 1/6 of a minute and 1 minute is 1/60 of an hour, so 10 seconds is 1/360 of an hour.
If you graph her trip with the speed on the y-axis and the time on the x-axis, you get a triangle with height of 60 mph and width of 1/360 of an hour. To calculate the area of the triangle, you multiply 1/2 × 1/360 × 60 = 1/12.
1 lb = A 2 lbs + A = B 3 lbs = B 4 lbs = A + B 5 lbs + A + B = C 6 lbs + B = C 7 lbs + B = A + C 8 lbs + A = C 9 lbs = C 10 lbs = A + C 11 lbs + A = B + C 12 lbs = B + C 13 lbs = A + B + C 14 lbs + B = D 15 lbs + B = A + D 16 lbs + A = D 17 lbs = D 18 lbs = A + D 19 lbs + A = B + D 20 lbs = B + D 21 lbs = A + B + D 22 lbs + A + B = C + D 23 lbs + B = C + D 24 lbs + B = A + C + D 25 lbs + A = C + D 26 lbs = C + D 27 lbs = A + C + D 28 lbs + A = B + C + D 29 lbs = B + C + D 30 lbs = A + B + C + D