#20. Pattern Recognition Brain Teaser — The Empty Triangle

Please enjoy this brain teas­er com­pli­ments of puz­zle mas­ter Wes Carroll.

The Emp­ty Triangle

Pattern Recognition Test - Empty Triangle

Ques­tion:
Which fig­ure should be placed in the emp­ty triangle?

This puz­zle works your exec­u­tive func­tions in your frontal lobes by using your pat­tern recog­ni­tion, hypoth­e­sis test­ing, and log­ic. Let us know how you do!

ANSWER:

3

SOLUTION:

The top num­ber minus the bot­tom left-hand num­ber is mul­ti­plied by the bot­tom right-hand num­ber to give the num­ber inside the triangle.

Next brain teas­er in Sharp­Brains’ top 25 series:

Posted in

21 Comments

  1. rob on August 20, 2007 at 7:15

    i came up with the same answer as kevin the sums added across all equal 26 if 6 is placed in the triangle.



  2. Toffee on August 23, 2007 at 9:40

    Anoth­er option if you look at it as a set…
    (6–2)+ (6–2) = 8
    (7–5) +(7–3) = 6

    For the third one and fourth as a set fol­low the same rule 

    (7+4)- (7–2)= 6
    Therefore
    (6+5) — (6–3) = 8



  3. Dan Bowles on October 17, 2007 at 1:36

    Right answer first time! :)

    The key to the prob­lem is that it is pat­tern recog­ni­tion — that is that each tri­an­gle is a dis­tinct event.



  4. david on October 17, 2007 at 2:05

    The cor­rect answer is 3…

    #1 (6–2)*2=8
    #2 (7–5)*3=6
    #3 (7–4)*2=6
    #4 (6–5)*3=



  5. NightLord on November 28, 2007 at 2:04

    I got 8.
    First tri­an­gle total is 18.
    Sec­ond tri­an­gle is 21.
    Third tri­an­gle is 19.
    This, with a skip­ping pat­tern the fourth tri­an­gle should jump to 22.
    Thus, 8 in the last triangle.



  6. Yomanda on November 29, 2007 at 4:12

    3. fo sho.



  7. zeda on January 17, 2008 at 10:40

    (6*2)-(2*2)= 8
    (7*3)-(5*3)= 6
    (7*2)-(4*2)= 6
    (6*3)-(5*3)= 3

    I muli­ti­plied the top num­ber with the bot­tom right numbe. Then mul­ti­plied the bot­tom two num­bers and sub­tract­ed the two totals. Guess i took the longer route!



  8. yahobahne on January 20, 2008 at 9:10

    i say 7 is the miss­ing number
    pat­tern: 18,21,19,21…
    21 is the con­stant num­ber while the oth­ers decrease by one



  9. siobhan on January 24, 2008 at 11:17

    The answer is 3.

    6–2=4*2=8
    7–5=2*3=6
    7–4=3*2=6
    6–5=1*3=3



  10. Aaron on March 23, 2008 at 10:22

    I got 8, just because it goes “6, 7, 7, 6” on top, then “8, 6, 6, X” in the tri­an­gle, so the pat­tern would make sense if it were 8.



  11. sudhasini on April 8, 2008 at 4:23

    answer is 3

    IN first train­gle 8/2=4
    add 2 with 4 =6.
    IN sec­ond one
    6/3=2+5=7
    IN 3rd triangle
    6/2=3+4=7
    IN 4th triangle
    3/3=1+5=6



  12. Richard on May 9, 2008 at 9:13

    Answer to

    1 3 5 7 9 R
    whelmint



  13. Lmnop on June 18, 2008 at 4:41

    I haven’t checked the answer yet, but I’m going to go ahead and say that it’s 3.



  14. Lmnop on June 18, 2008 at 4:44

    After check­ing the way you were “sup­posed” to get to the answer, I found out I did it the “wrong” way. I did it the same way as zeda. I sup­pose the oth­er way would have been quick­er; oh well.



  15. Zobi on October 16, 2008 at 6:21

    I get 1



  16. Truck on October 16, 2008 at 6:22

    I get 2 as (7–5)*3 — 4 = 2



  17. jumbo on October 16, 2008 at 7:55

    cor­rect answer is 3 

    In 1st tri­an­gle :6*2–2*2 =inside number

    In 2nd tri­an­gle :7*3–3*5 =inside number
    same for 3rd triangle
    hence in last tri­an­gle num­ber is 3



  18. Theresa on January 30, 2009 at 11:36

    Wow, this works at least 3 oth­er ways. Oth­er peo­ple men­tioned two already but i found it anoth­er way.. which actu­al­ly some­one wrote too.

    1st — 6*2 — 2*2
    3rd — 7*3 — 3*5 = 3

    Its so fun­ny that it is that open to interpretation.



  19. steve on November 1, 2009 at 11:40

    1) (6x2)-(2x2)=8
    2) (7x3)-(5x3)=6
    3) (7x2)-(4x2)=6
    4) (6x3)-(5x3)=3!



  20. steve on November 1, 2009 at 11:41

    oops, I guess there­sa already thought of that one.



  21. Nestor Hansen on September 25, 2017 at 3:22

    if you mul­ti­plied the top num­ber by the bot­tom right-hand minus left-hand num­ber is mul­ti­plied by the bot­tom right-hand The solu­ción is the same.



About SharpBrains

SHARPBRAINS is an independent think-tank and consulting firm providing services at the frontier of applied neuroscience, health, leadership and innovation.
SHARPBRAINS es un think-tank y consultoría independiente proporcionando servicios para la neurociencia aplicada, salud, liderazgo e innovación.

Top Articles on Brain Health and Neuroplasticity

Top 10 Brain Teasers and Illusions

Newsletter

Subscribe to our e-newsletter

* indicates required

Got the book?