These are the initials decimals of pi and e:

Decimals of pi: 1415926535897932384626433832795...
Decimals of e : 7182818284590452353602874713526...

Without rearranging the order of the digits, add any quantity of parentheses and arithmetic signs +, -, *, / (with same manner in both line) so that to make correct arithmetic expressions equally to 2003, using the least possible number of symbols. You have to use the digits starting from the left one, and the same numbers of digits in each case.

Example for number 11, using the first 5 digits:

- (1 * 4) + 1 + 5 + 9 = 11
- (7 * 1) + 8 + 2 + 8 = 11

These two expression contains 12 symbols (5 digits, 2 parentheses and 5 arithmetic signs).

(In reply to re(3): easy as pi e by pcbouhid)

But, Brad, you gave me an idea.

Using any number decimal digits of pi OR using any number of the decimal digits of e, isīs possible to obtain an expression, using only math operations and standard math notation, that gives 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, ...? How far can you go?  

Posted by pcbouhid on 2005-10-15 14:22:54