Problem of the Week Day 4: Week of 7/16/12 - 7/20/12

Today is day 4 of the problem of the week. Good luck!

Easy: Take the following sequence:

6, m, n, e, h, ...

You may notice a letter in there that you haven't seen yet: n. I want you to determine the value of n.

Hint: Look for common differences.

Hard: Today's part will take a little longer than usual, but shouldn't be too bad.

First, figure out the following equations:

a = 10z/t
b = -t(9s - 7t - 10)/z
c = (t ÷ z ÷ s)^-8

a =
b =
c =

Remember the order of operations (which are listed on yesterday's post).

You might be wondering why I chose a, b, and c. It is because you then have to solve for x in this equation:

0 = ax^2 + bx + c.

x =

Hint: You can use any of the methods to solve quadratic equations you wish. The most straight forward is the quadratic formula which is below.

x = [-b ± √(b^2 - 4ac)]/2a