The Grey Labyrinth is a collection of puzzles, riddles, mind games, paradoxes and other intellectually challenging diversions. Related topics: puzzle games, logic puzzles, lateral thinking puzzles, philosophy, mind benders, brain teasers, word problems, conundrums, 3d puzzles, spatial reasoning, intelligence tests, mathematical diversions, paradoxes, physics problems, reasoning, math, science.

ctrlaltdel · Member of the Daedalians

thousand apologies o jen the merciful!!! what can i say to defend your wrath? erm.. btw psyduck conflicts also with poliwrath the obviously inadequate knowledge of english is my only excuse - and this of course is but my shame and blame. i hereby proclaim that i will (try to) not be picky with you again.

[This message has been edited by ctrlaltdel (edited 03-24-2002 08:09 AM).]

Courk · Daedalian Member

How about... 1078 and 853?

Jingle47 · Daedalian Member

What about 100 and 36? They should return zero right?
What about 100 and 37?

The Hint Fairy · Guest

1057
853
1770
1826
2811
2661
5315
5615
10281
13406
22965
6674
4010
2811
2661

Hey! A loop! So the answer is no, it doesn't always give 0!

100
36
0

I think Jingle knows it. . .

100
37
100
100
0

I think Jingle may know it! If you do, don't forget the prizes!

Jingle47 · Daedalian Member

Well I believe these examples may show that I have figured it out....
Are there any prizes left? Prizes for me? How do I get them?
1111
4747
2301
6431
6015
6504
9044
8615
15784
239
1012
787
780
771
755
1461
555
855
1181
1739
270
305
554
49
250
150
251
14
33
21
17
33
32
32
0

Wow that was longer than I thought, but I strarted so I must finish....
Here is a shorter one...

2002
47
458
210
80
159
176
98
79
109
147
147
0

And here is my birthday sequence....

910
1976
2560
559
624
716
560
271
439
633
158
158
0

Chuck · Daedalian Member

You obviously know the rules. The prize list is in the second post on page 1 here: http://www.greylabyrinth.com/Forums/Forum7/HTML/002929-6.html

Choose any three and email me a postal mailing address at Chuck1863@msn.com

Mathgrant took all the good stuff, but there's plently left. I'm now reading Flatterland by Ian Stewart. You can have that as one of your choices if you're willing to wait a few days.

Mathgrant, did the box of books arrive?

CrystyB · Misunderstood Guy

Courk asked for 1078 and 853... And may i request 17&18 and 28&6? TY!

Is there a reason you're still unregistered, Hint Fairy? What if your loop is wrong? Shouldn't you be able to edit/delete your posts?

[This message has been edited by CrystyB (edited 03-27-2002 12:02 PM).]

Jingle47 · Daedalian Member

If you will permit me Chuck....
To answer the previous questions

17
18
17
17
0

And the other one looks like this...
28
6
24
0

And all I will say about 1078 and 853 is that it does not end in 0.......

[This message has been edited by Jingle47 (edited 03-27-2002 12:56 PM).]

mathgrant · A very tilted cell member

Yes, they arrived only three days after I sent the e-mail with my address, and they were great! I loved that one with the curious and interesting numbers, I actually read the whole thing in one day.

The Hint Fairy · Guest

This just in: My "1057" was a typo for 1078. I got DOurk's correct, but the first number was typoed!

1057
853
1020
1436
620
1071
1424
2348
1968
2663
1263
3480
2024
5111
2008
3679
5343
5408
4319
8928
8351
11772
747
2459
848
96
183
144
108
176
239
39
105
126
5
5
0

The SCYTHER sequence:
10325
208518
26909
102026
76818
49427
105362
84678
96411
45342
9873
602
4577
3073
2621
89
945
5
101
21
5
5
0

The VULPIX sequence:

212012
16924
80188
1287
14031
3896
8327
8967
1328
5676
2703
7172
8312
15264
19199
27612
18212
33968
8832
22976
4007
807
845
1290
114
371
269
574
742
804
584
311
148
232
111
152
231
143
272
87
255
281
366
446
20
84
80
159
176
95
79
109
147
147
0

Chuck · Daedalian Member

I guess this has been around long enough. The answer, invisible, is:

Multiply the last two numbers and subtract the largest square that won't cause the result to go negative.

Example: The starting numbers 7 and 11 when multiplied give 77. The largest square equal to or less than 77 is 64, so subtract 64. The result, and third number of the sequence, is 13. Then multiply 11 and 13 giving 143. Subtract 121 giving 22 as the fourth number of the sequence. Continue until bored or zero is reached.

SaberKitty · one can always be hopeful...

How would you describe that as easy?
I agree with Lepton, you are evil, or maybe just crazy-with a warped perception of the world of math.
But I must admit i had fun attempting to find the answer.

edit: spelling

[This message has been edited by SaberKitty (edited 03-29-2002 06:39 PM).]

Chuck · Daedalian Member

I've posted worse series puzzles.

Yes, I'm evil, but it's a lighthearted, funloving evil.

CrystyB · Misunderstood Guy

this has a second "thoeretically possible" question: can it not repeat itself?

Chuck · Daedalian Member

See reply 83.

ctrlaltdel · Member of the Daedalians

oh, why didnt i think of that.... but hey, don't i get points for solving the question whether chuck is evil?

Chuck · Daedalian Member

Ok, ten points.

CrystyB · Misunderstood Guy

Chuck, i meant can it be transcedental? (going into no loops, 0's or no 0's)

It sometimes rises, but i think in general it should not be possible, b/c of a finite number of values.

Chuck · Daedalian Member

I tried lots of numbers, some with hundreds of digits. None ran off to overflow my 2600 digit limit. Most dropped to zero quickly. I don't know if any pair of numbers start a series that runs off to infinity.

If I subtract the highest cube instead of highest square the series usually gets very high very quickly and doesn't come back down.