Suppose and are positive numbers. There are 6 possible products obtained by pairing them (namely , and ). The values of 5 products (in random order) are 2, 3, 4, 6, 9. How many different value(s) for the sixth product?
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The six products are a b , a c , a d , b c , b d and c d . By pairing a b and c d , the product is a b c d . Likewise for pairing a c and b d as well as a d and b c . From the 5 products 2 , 3 , 4 , 6 , 9 , there are two possibilities, namely: 2 × 9 = 3 × 6 = 1 8 which suggests sixth product is 4 1 8 = 4 . 5 OR 2 × 6 = 3 × 4 = 1 2 which suggests sixth product is 9 1 2 = 3 4 . So, there are 2 different values for the sixth product.
Suppose a ≤ b ≤ c ≤ d . There are four possible values for ( a , b , c , d ) . There are: ( a , b , c , d ) = ( 2 6 , 3 2 6 , 6 , 2 3 6 ) , ( 3 2 3 , 3 , 2 3 3 , 2 3 ) , ( 3 2 2 , 2 , 2 3 2 , 3 2 ) , ( 3 6 , 3 2 6 , 6 , 2 3 6 ) .