Eric;
Thank you for your reply.
The mathematically challenged
Jim Callahan
-----Original Message-----
From: Eric Boyd <6ceb3@qlink.queensu.ca>
To: virus@lucifer.com <virus@lucifer.com>
Date: Tuesday, March 30, 1999 12:46 PM
Subject: Re: virus: hey Eric
>Hi,
>
>From: Jim <magicjim@islc.net>
><<
>Could you help me with a bit of math. If I take a three digit number
>then reveres it so now I have the original number and a new number
>generated from its reversal and then subtract the larger number from
>the smaller. Is it possible to tell what the starting number was just
>from the answer. Thanks for your time>>
>>>
>
>My first guess would be no, but you better let me try:
>
>consider a 3 digit number
>
>abc
>
>it "reverse" is
>
>cba
>
>the difference between them is
>
>absolute value (cba-abc)
>
>which could be
>
>(c-a)(b-b)(a-c)
>
>except that, obviously, either c-a or a-c is negative. Since we are
>assuming that the above is possitive, c-a is positive, and thus a-c is
>negative. Therefore we must carry the one from b-b, which carries the
>one from c-a and the answer is
>
>(c-a-1)(0)(a-c+10)
>
>which gives us two equations in two variables -- you could solve for a
>and c (in theory), but the value of b is unrecoverable.
>
>Conclusion: it's not possible, just as I thought.
>
>ERiC
>
>