Today's Puzzle

Well I don't know. This thread is marked as solved but three different answers have been given: 4, 8 and "2!3".

2!3 is wrong, because 2!=2 and 3=3, so 2!3=2 x 3 which is 6.

The answer depends on how you specify the question. If the sequence of numbers is important, then indeed there are 8 possible outcomes. If the sequence is not important (and throwing 3 disks randomly up in the air to see how they land rather implies that it isn't), then there are only 4 possible combinations of numbers showing.

So the answer is probably 4, could arguably be 8, but absolutely definitely is NOT 2!3....

Britton30 said:

2|3 is notation for 2 to the 3rd power, 2x2x2, or 8.

No it isn't. 2! means 2 factorial, or 2 x 1. 2 with a superscript 3 means 2 to the power of 3. Here this would usually be written 2^3.

Britton30 said:

clunkfish said:

Britton30 said:

2|3 is notation for 2 to the 3rd power, 2x2x2, or 8.

No it isn't. 2! means 2 factorial, or 2 x 1. 2 with a superscript 3 means 2 to the power of 3. Here this would usually be written 2^3.

Whatever. I didn't use an excalamtio point. it's a "|"

2|3 could be used to mean 2 is a divisor of 3 - which it isn't - but is basically meaningless. I assumed it was a typo. It is never used to mean 2 raised to the power 3.

Britton30 said:

Must be different in the UK, sorry.

I'm afraid not - it's exactly the same. The thing to do when you're wrong is learn from it, not pretend that you're correct really. That just misleads you and others, and there's already enough nonsense on the internet without adding to it.