If I had told you their product, you would have known what the numbers were.

If I had told you instead the sum of their squares, you would also have known what the numbers were.

But if I had told you instead the sum of the numbers, you wouldn't have been able to tell what the numbers were.

Which were the numbers?

The telling of the product of the numbers or the telling of the sum of the squares, but not both. ("If I had told you instead") So each statement has to work alone to identify the numbers.

Posted by Charlie on 2007-05-25 16:59:51