Difficulty: Extreme!
Lavonne is testing a secret code with her friend Jack. First, she picks 3 different secret numbers between 1 and 9. Then she finds the sum of each pair of numbers. For example, secret numbers 2, 3, and 6 give these three sums: 5 (2+3), 8 (2+6), and 9 (3+6).
Lavonne wants to know if Jack can figure out the original secret numbers just from the sums.
If she tells him that the sums are 7, 12, and 13, can Jack recreate the secret numbers?
Need a hint?
All 3 secret numbers are different. So one is the smallest, one is the largest, and one is in between.
7 is the smallest total, so it must be the 2 smallest secret numbers added together.
13 is the largest total, so it must be the 2 largest secret numbers added together.
12 is the remaining total, so it must be the largest and smallest secret numbers added together.
Remember that the secret numbers have to be between 1 and 9. This may help you eliminate some options.
Brainteaser answer
Lavonne’s secret numbers are 3, 4 and 9.
To solve this problem, it can be helpful to look at the example first, which helpfully arranges all the numbers from smallest to largest. Secret numbers 2, 3, and 6 give these three sums:
5 (2+3), which is the smallest secret number plus the middle secret number.
8 (2+6), which is the smallest secret number plus the largest secret number.
9 (3+6), which is the middle secret number plus the largest secret number.
Notice that the smallest and largest sums both involve the middle secret number. As you’ll see in the next few steps, we can use this observation to narrow down the options.
We can turn our attention to the new set of secret numbers by looking at their sums, 7, 12, and 13. Let’s begin by brainstorming possible number pairs that add up to 7:
7 = 1+6, here 1 is the smallest secret number and 6 is the middle secret number
7 = 2+5, here 2 is the smallest secret number and 5 is the middle secret number
7 = 3+4, here 3 is the smallest secret number and 4 is the middle secret number
To help us narrow down the options, we can use the possible middle secret numbers above to brainstorm possible pairs for the largest sum, 13. As we saw in the example above, the middle sum 12 must be the sum of the smallest secret number plus the middle secret number.
13 = 6+7, with 6 as the middle secret number, the largest secret number must be 7. As we found above, when the middle secret number is 6, the smallest secret number must be 1. But 1 and 6 don’t add up to 12.
13 = 5+8, with 5 as the middle secret number, the largest secret number must be 8. When the middle secret number is 5, the smallest secret number must be 2. But 2 and 8 don’t add up to 12.
13 = 4+9, with 4 as the middle secret number, the largest secret number must be 9. When the middle secret number is 4, the smallest secret number must be 3. Finally, 3 and 9 do add up to 12!
This makes 3, 4, and 9 the secret numbers and we eliminated all other possibilities.
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