Hard maths problem for you (Warning: VERY hard!)

wannabedamned said:
He's right though. You may know the answer, but its not from calculation, working it out isnt something that can be done with common\basic math knowledge.
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Maybe some people here have better than common and basic maths knowledge? Myself, I have a degree in maths and I still don't see how to work out the number which isn't 4 except that it must be prime. And that this prime cannot be 2 less than another prime. Otherwise, prime + 4 would be expressible as another prime + 2, meaning Simon wouldn't be so certain in his "I know you don't know" thing.
 
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wannabedamned said:
He's right though. You may know the answer, but its not from calculation, working it out isnt something that can be done with common\basic math knowledge, and definately not in that time frame.
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To many people thinking about the time frame from the question posted on this forum.

OcUK isn't the only forum that has this question posted.

Does it slip your mind that people might have done this before hand, after all it is a very popular question?
 
Heh, I'm going to get flamed for this, and its not meant in a nasty way towards Swifty55. but from what I remember he is infact a brick layer. I have worked on building sites as an electrician for MANY years, and brickies....Maths isn't usually their strong point. Fair enough, maybe Swifty55 is the exception to the rule. But I remain skeptical :p

The above post, Yes Im aware people have done it before, which is where I'm saying your answer came from.
 
wannabedamned said:
Heh, I'm going to get flamed for this, and its not meant in a nasty way towards Swifty55. but from what I remember he is infact a brick layer. I have worked on building sites as an electrician for MANY years, and brickies....Maths isn't usually their strong point. Fair enough, maybe Swifty55 is the exception to the rule. But I remain skeptical :p

The above post, Yes Im aware people have done it before, which is where I'm saying your answer came from
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Nah, most people think that also. I left college early in the first year because sex, drugs, alcohol and dance tunes were cool and I hated education. Most people are blind to the fact, maybe I'm a Bricky, but that doesn't mean I don't know stuff.

Yes, I understand people are skeptical because I posted the answer in less than 5 minutes, that's because the OP only asked for the numbers, not the calculation. As soon as I read his post I knew the answers, but if he wanted me to explain I would indeed google the calculation 'cos there's no way in hell I'm going to type up how I did it on paper, took me a good couple of days to figure it myself.
 
Swifty55 said:
As soon as I read his post I knew the answers, but if he wanted me to explain I would indeed google the calculation 'cos there's no way in hell I'm going to type up how I did it on paper, took me a good couple of days to figure it myself.
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I don't believe you. But this is the internet, and you're free to claim whatever you like.
 
Swifty55 said:
Nah, most people think that also. I left college early in the first year because sex, drugs, alcohol and dance tunes were cool and I hated education. Most people are blind to the fact, maybe I'm a Bricky, but that doesn't mean I don't know stuff.

Yes, I understand people are skeptical because I posted the answer in less than 5 minutes, that's because the OP only asked for the numbers, not the calculation. As soon as I read his post I knew the answers, but if he wanted me to explain I would indeed google the calculation 'cos there's no way in hell I'm going to type up how I did it on paper, took me a good couple of days to figure it myself.
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I don't suppose you could at least hint at the final part of the calculation? I know one of the numbers is 4, the other number is a prime which is not 2 less than another prime. So it could be 7, 13, 19, 23, 31, 37, 43, 47, 53, 61, 67, 73, 79, 83, 89 or 97. Still, 16 possibilities from 4000-odd ain't bad.
 
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Peter: I don't know what the two numbers are.
Simon: I know you don't know, neither do I.
Peter: AHA! I know what the numbers are now!
Simon: Ah, so do I
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The "I know you don't know" thing is stupid because there are hardly any numbers you could know merely from the product without trial and error.
 
Argh this is annoying. OP, do you know if it's even possible to narrow the possibilities down further than 16 possibilities?
 
I see the OP has been edited to remove the "what are the two numbers?" part of the question. Does this mean it is indeed impossible to narrow it down further, and we were just meant to explain Peter and Simon's reasoning?
 
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FOR GOD SAKE JUST GIMME THE DAMN NUMBER
 
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