Math Puzzle Basic Arithmetic: We have 4 numbers which are 2/5/9/11....

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lou231

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May 25, 2023
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Hello everyone,

I saw a math problem online but I can't seem to find the solution to it and I'm starting to believe there is a mistake.
The problem is very basic:

We have 4 numbers which are 2/5/9/11, you need to use each of them one time and by using addition, subtraction, multiplication and/or division reach 55 exactly. You can also use round brackets, however, no other operations are allowed (i.e. square roots, exponential ...).

I feel like I tried everything but can't seem to reach 55.

If someone has any idea, it would be very helpful,
Thank you
 
I always learned to separate items in a list with commas. Are you using / for ,? Why?

I too, do not see this one. These are silly problems.
 
2*5*9-11-24=55. I used each number 2,5,9 and 11 exactly once and I arrived at 55.
 
lou231 said:
Hello everyone,

I saw a math problem online but I can't seem to find the solution to it and I'm starting to believe there is a mistake.
The problem is very basic:

We have 4 numbers which are 2/5/9/11, you need to use each of them one time and by using addition, subtraction, multiplication and/or division reach 55 exactly. You can also use round brackets, however, no other operations are allowed (i.e. square roots, exponential ...).

I feel like I tried everything but can't seem to reach 55.

If someone has any idea, it would be very helpful,
Thank you
Click to expand...
This sort of thing can be a challenging puzzle; it takes a lot of patient trial and error, and a little thinking outside the box.

For some similar problems, with hints for solving them but very few spoilers, see The 24 Game and Kin. The last two major examples use tricks similar to what you need to solve this one, which is the hardest type. It also shows what "brute force" means, though I don't recommend doing that by hand.

The big hint you need most: Think in terms of fractions.
 
Thank you everyone for your help,
In the end, i also ended up making a brute-force script to find the answer, but still thank you all,
Have a nice one
 
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