Sometimes cracking a code is all about figuring out the relationship between two (or more) seemingly unrelated items. Soon you see a pattern emerge and experience an “Aha!” moment.
When you give your brain time to mull over a puzzle, you join some of the greatest minds in history. These world-changing inventions all came about when smart folks spent time pondering a puzzle and then got hit with a moment of clarity that led to a truly amazing discovery:
- The law of gravity
- Matches
- Microwave ovens
- Potato chips
- Velcro
Many of us wouldn’t be able to imagine life without these inventions. But you don’t need to create a scientific theory or invent a whiz-bang product to get the benefits of chewing on a problem and giving your brain a good workout.
Want to know how solving puzzles helps your brain? Working on logic puzzles can strengthen your short-term memory, which may help to reduce those pesky “Where did I put my keys?” and “Why did I walk into the kitchen?” moments. The process of using trial and error to solve a brain teaser can polish the problem-solving skills that help you out of everyday jams — like having a tech issue with your phone or realizing that you’re missing a key ingredient for the dish you were going to cook for tonight’s potluck.
Here’s our challenge to you: Try to solve our “What’s Your Number?” puzzle and see how long it takes you to come up with an answer. This math-and-logic brain teaser requires you to look at groups of seemingly unrelated numbers and shapes to spot a pattern. Hint: you’ll need to do some math, so make sure you have a calculator app or a pencil and paper handy.
Can you find the right number to put in the square with the red question mark? After you’ve come up with the answer, scroll down to check your number. Then, leave a comment to compare notes with other brain teaser fans on how you solved the problem and how long it took.
I got the 7 very quickly.
great logic problem.
the number is 7. The number in the diamond times the number in the square equals the sum of the circles.
Way too easy. Did it in maybe five seconds.
I agree–too easy.
7- I qualified for a Alzheimer’s Research Study as my memory is slipping away. This puzzle took a few minutes. What’s the website for this Brain Teasers, my brain badly needs it. Turning 70 this year.
Tej – Thanks for reading. You can see our full list of brain teasers here.
I figured it on on my second try. Thanks for keeping my mind active.
How am I suppose to know what squares, circles, and diamonds represents.
7, Fun, I would like more.
I am 80 years old, but this was easy.
7 is my answer, looking at it for about a minute i took pencil and paper and did the simple math add and divide for the answer.
7
This is WAY TOO easy! Can be done in my head with no paper and pencil so I need something more challenging!
Don’t they do things like this in 2nd grade?
I know the missing number, it is 7
7
7.
I’m 85. It took me 2 1/2 minutes. I credit the old Catholic school nuns for my being able to do that at my age.
Took about 3 minutes. Did the calculations in my head.
7
It took me a few minutes to analyze the relationship but I got it.
My number is 7
7 is my answer Francine Lewis, Feb 18, 2022
that was easy, and I didn’t need a calculator, I used my basic math (which they don’t teach now days) and the answer is 7.
Easy………..Peasy!
That took about 30 seconds to figure out. Way too easy.
Took a couple of minutes to solve.
7 is my answer.
7 is not mixed in the numbers in the box, however, if you look outside of the box in the top left corner there is a 7 in dark gray. Fun game.
Great puzzle. Need more like this
7 is my answer
7
9
9
7.
7 is my answer. No calculator used.
I think having a logical brain helps find solutions such as above. Took me less than a minute to figure out the answer was 7 – did not cheat.
Hiya, I am really glad I’ve found this info. Today bloggers publish just about gossip and web stuff and this is really irritating. A good website with interesting content, that’s what I need. Thank you for making this web site, and I will be visiting again. Do you do newsletters by email?
I started by adding the top-three circled numbers and dividing by the number in the square. It worked for the two solved examples, so I tried it with the third . . . and voilà.
Got it right away – just luck
Got the correct answer within several minutes, adding/multiplying in my head. Maybe if I worked only with numbers all day, I could have been faster!
What took a bit of time is that I tried to determine the relationship in the first group, holding back on the second group for confirmation of certainty that they shared the same pattern. If the two groups were solved simultaneously by examination, the answer for the third group is basically automatic.
I think the missing number is 7, if I calculated correctly.
What a very nice numbers game.
I think your comment was just plain and totally RUDE! You appear to be in need of self worth. I got the answer in about 5 minutes but I am guilty of overly double checking Which takes time. At any rate it was fun and I thought that was the point of a game. FUN
Who is rude? Everyone seems nice here!
That was fun. It took me 25 min. to solve.
Using a calculator on this equation, seems to be cheating. It took a few minutes to come with the answer 7. What a calculator it would’ve been a lot faster and not fair to your mind.
7 is correct. My mistake. Wife is close and added input. LOL
6 is my answer
I glanced at the first group of numbers and didn’t see a sequence so added the circled numbers and immediately saw the relation to the other numbers in the group. In a glance I saw the same in the second group and almost with out looking I filled in the 7 for the third group. Less than 10 seconds. So my conclusion, this is a test designed for 5th graders or else it’s a dementia related exercise for 85 year olds.
I must be 85! Actually, I’m only 75, yet it still took me 7 minutes.
Haha I must be both plus with multiple Strokes I had to cheat to find the answer lol