I am not allergic to long division

Dr. Richard P. Feynman posed the following puzzle: Each of the dots below represents some digit (any digit 0 to 9). Each of the A A 's represents the same digit. None of the dots are the same as A . A.

What is the sum of the divisor, the dividend, and the quotient?


Details and Assumptions:

  • Both manual and CS solutions are encouraged.
  • You can see the original letter below.


The answer is 3535649.

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5 solutions

Chew-Seong Cheong
Jun 27, 2014

I used logical deductions to get the answer. First let us assign the unknown digits as follows:

D E A F B A C ) G H I J A K L M N A A O P Q A R S A T U V K W A X Y T Δ Θ L T Δ Θ L 0 \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad DEAF\\BAC ) GHIJAKL\\ \quad \quad MNAA\\ \quad \quad \quad \quad OPQA\\\quad \quad \quad \quad \quad RSA\\\quad \quad \quad \quad \quad TUVK\\\quad \quad \quad \quad \quad WAXY\\\quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad T \Delta \Theta L \\\quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad T \Delta \Theta L\\\\\quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad 0

We note that B A C × D = M N A A BAC \times D = MNAA and A C × D = ? A A AC \times D = ?AA . Assume A = 0 A=0 , then C 0 C \ne 0 , D 0 D \ne 0 and to get the last digit to be A A or 0 0 . then 0 C × D = 2 × 5 0C \times D = 2 \times 5 , 5 × 2 5 \times 2 , 4 × 5 4 \times 5 , 5 × 4 5 \times 4 , 6 × 5 6 \times 5 , 5 × 6 5 \times 6 , 8 × 5 8 \times 5 , or 5 × 8 5 \times 8 , But it can noted that all the products above don't give second last digit to be 0 0 , therefore, A 0 A \ne 0 . Do the same elimination process for A = 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 A =1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 . And it is found that the possible cases are A C × D = 37 × 9 = 333 , 43 × 8 = 344 , 48 × 3 = 144 AC \times D=37 \times 9 = 333, 43 \times 8 = 344, 48 \times 3 = 144 or 84 × 7 = 588 84 \times 7 = 588 .

Now we look at A C × E = ? S A AC \times E = ?SA of B A C × E = R S A BAC \times E = RSA for all cases of A C AC . For A C = 37 AC=37 , the only possible case for the last digit of the product 37 × E 37 \times E to be 3 3 is E = 9 E=9 , but 37 × 9 = 333 37 \times 9 = 333 which means that S = 3 = A S=3=A and it is unacceptable. Similarly 43 × 8 = 344 43 \times 8 = 344 and 48 × 3 = 144 48 \times 3 = 144 are unacceptable. Next is 48 × 8 = 384 48 \times 8 = 384 which means that E = 8 E=8 and that B 48 × 8 1184 R 84 B48 \times 8 \le 1184 \ne R84 , again unacceptable. Left 84 × 2 = 168 84 \times 2 = 168 which means A = 8 A=8 , C = 4 C=4 , E = 2 E=2 and S = 6 S=6 . For B A C × E = R S A BAC \times E = RSA , the possible B = 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 B=1,2,3,4 .

Now consider B A C × A = W A X Y BAC \times A = WAXY ; the only possible case is 484 × 8 = 3872 484 \times 8 = 3872 . So B = 4 B=4 , W = 3 W=3 , X = 7 X=7 and Y = 2 Y=2 .

From B A C × D = M N A A BAC \times D = MNAA ; the only possible case is 484 × 7 = 3388 484 \times 7 = 3388 . So D = 7 D=7 and M = N = 3 M=N=3 .

From B A C × F = Z Δ Θ L BAC \times F = Z \Delta \Theta L for all F = 0 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 9 F=0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,9 and checking for the validity of T U V K W A X Y = Z Δ Θ TUVK - WAXY = Z \Delta \Theta , it is found that it is only possible when F = 9 F=9 . Therefore, the divisor B A C = 484 BAC=484 , the quotient D E A F = 7289 DEAF=7289 and the dividend is 7289 × 484 = 3527876 7289 \times 484 = 3527876 and the sum of divisor, dividend and quotient is 484 + 3527876 + 7289 = 3535649 484+3527876+7289=\boxed{3535649} .

A bit of complicating....................

Jasveen Sandral - 7 years ago
Hadia Qadir
Jul 22, 2015

King George
May 21, 2015

Kenneth Tay
Sep 6, 2014

Solution can be found through a series of logical deductions. My full solution can be found at this link: https://beyondmathsolutions.wordpress.com/2014/08/22/soln-feynmans-division-problem/

(Anyone know how to insert hyperlinks in a solution?)

My solution

That is written this way:

First is a pair of brackets, followed by a pair of parentheses. Insert in the pair of brackets any statement that you want to appear. Insert in the pair of parentheses the link. :)

Jaydee Lucero - 6 years, 6 months ago

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