Be a detective and find out what's missing

We reached out to our community with five numerical patterns to solve. Each item had at least one missing number. We asked them to complete each pattern by supplying the missing numbers and identifying what kind of pattern was followed to solve each mystery sequence.

We have the answer key to the mystery sequences and it most definitely merits a blog all on its own. 🥸

Before sharing the answers and logic with you, it’s important to mention that we put 8 detectives in on the case, and although some were able to solve the mysteries faster than others, we all had to take some time to think into each sequence and come up with the answers and logic to support our findings. We realized that there was a unique logic to each sequence that in some cases was easier to solve as a group.  We also found that #5 wasn’t working as logically as the others and come to find out, there was an error where 46 should be 47… watch the video to see the logic behind that particular mystery sequence 😱

Here’s what our detectives found:
     (1)  9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21  Logic = (+2)
     (2)  9, 16, 23, 30, 37, 44, 51 Logic = (+7)
     (3)  30, 35, 33, 38, 36, 41 Logic  = (+5) and (-2)
     (4) 122, 120, 115, 113, 108, 106  Logic = (-2) and (-5).
     (5)  7, 20, 46, 94, 167, 272 ... This one stumped us!
           - There is actually an error in the sequence in that the 46 must be a 47.  Here is the video to see
​               how it was actually solved.

For some, math is very easy and might even be enjoyable. They understand the rules and why specific formulas exist. If they forget the rules and/or formulas, they experiment with numbers and algebra to find the right answers. To these people, math is easy because there is nothing illogical about it.

For many others, math can be difficult. They will try to memorize the formulas because the context feels so abstract to them and the process of analyzing and working through the problems can be intimidating, making math a subject to avoid as much as humanly possible.

This exercise proves that we are all smart, in different ways. That sometimes, we might need help to improve our skills, be it math, technology, reading and/or writing, and that’s OK.

Help really is just a call or a click away.   https://llnb.ca/become-a-reader.html