Without using any arithmetical symbols (+, -, *, /, or similar; other math symbols; decimal comma or periods; letters; even parentheses) or, in short, anything but the digits, build a number with the digits 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9, that is equal to a number built with the digits 2, 4, 6 and 8 (each digit used once and only once).

Note: This is not a trick. It was extracted from a book edited by Angela Dunn, a mathematician who gathered problems that appeared in many scientific periodical revues!

How about base notation? I'll use the underscore for here, but the base notation is usually a subscript and that is what I intend.

9715_3 = 842_6

So how many different equalities are there using different bases?

Posted by owl on 2005-06-30 19:22:18