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Slash and Dash (Posted on 2003-06-20) Difficulty: 4 of 5
What are the next few terms in this sequence?
	-
	/-\
	/-\-
	//-\\
	/-\--
	/-\/-\
	/-\---
	///-\\\
	//-\\-
	/-\-/-\

  Submitted by DJ    
Rating: 4.3077 (13 votes)
Solution: (Hide)

/-\----
/-\//-\\
/-\-----
/-\--/-\
/-\/-\-
////-\\\\
/-\------
//-\\/-\
/-\-------
/-\-//-\\

Each dash in the sequence represents a prime number, with the last (rightmost) dash always representing two, the lowest prime, and the preceding dashes in descending order.

The number of / \ pairs around the dash indicate the exponent on the number (no slashes means a power of zero, for which the term is equal to 1 and does not affect the product).

The patterns given represent the first ten counting numbers:
 1	-	(2^0) = 1
 2	/-\	(2^1) = 2
 3	/-\-	(3^1)(2^0) = 3*1
 4	//-\\	(2^2) = 4
 5	/-\--	(5^1)(3^0)(2^0) = 5*1*1
 6	/-\/-\	(3^1)(2^1) = 3*2
 7	/-\---	(7^1)(5^0)(3^0)(2^0) = 7*1*1*1
 8	///-\\\	(2^3) = 8
 9	//-\\-	(3^2)(2^0) = 9*1
10	/-\-/-\	(5^1)(3^0)(2^1) = 5*1*2
Therefore, the next few terms in the sequence are:
11	/-\----
12	/-\//-\\
13	/-\-----
14	/-\--/-\
15	/-\/-\-
16	////-\\\\
17	/-\------
18	//-\\/-\
19	/-\-------
20	/-\-//-\\
And so on. . .

Comments: ( You must be logged in to post comments.)
  Subject Author Date
Puzzle Thoughts K Sengupta2023-07-13 08:33:51
re(2): SolutionGamer2003-06-25 02:18:06
re: SolutionBryan2003-06-24 10:06:52
SolutionSolutionEnder2003-06-24 04:46:17
Hints/TipsHint #3 (Potential Spoiler)DJ2003-06-23 06:59:04
Stuck!Bryan2003-06-23 06:39:46
Hints/TipsHint #2DJ2003-06-21 11:02:55
Questionre: Hint #1 ???Lewis2003-06-21 08:30:45
Hints/TipsHint #1DJ2003-06-21 08:06:31
Some ThoughtsAnother thoughtLewis2003-06-20 22:20:17
Some ThoughtsMy guessLewis2003-06-20 10:25:11
Some ThoughtsSpeedy ideaGamer2003-06-20 09:52:36
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