BEATCALC:  Beat the Calculator!

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Back to Calculation Tips & Tricks
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From the BEATCALC mailing list:
a weekly service from B. Lee Clay, archived here by the Math Forum.
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   Squaring special numbers (5 and
                 repeating 3's)

  1. Choose a number with a 5 and repeating 3's.
  2. The square is made up of:
    • first digits: 28 & one fewer 4 than repeating 3's
    • next digits: 0 & one fewer 8 than repeating 3's
    • last digit: 9

   Example:

  1. If the number to be squared is 5333:
  2. The square has:

    first digits: 28 and one fewer
        4 than 3's                   2 8 4 4
    next digits: 0 and one fewer
        8 than 3's                          0 8 8
    last digit: 9                                 9

  3. So 5333 x 5333 = 28,440,889.

   See the pattern?

  1. If the number to be squared is 533333:
  2. The square has:

    first digits: 28 and one fewer
       4 than 3's             2 8 4 4 4 4
    next digits: 0 and one fewer
       8 than 3's                        0 8 8 8 8
    last digit: 9                                  9

  3. So 533333 x 533333 = 284,444,088,889.
     


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12 April 1999
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