# What comes next in this sequence? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [December 15, 2016, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-comes-next-in-this-sequence/774768 "2016-12-15T13:31:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-comes-next-in-this-sequence/774768/1 "2016-12-15T13:31:00Z")
Just a quick one that some people might enjoy. Yes, I know you can come up with a formula/justification for pretty much any number to come next in any sequence, but that’s not the point. The real question is, is this a ‘fair’ puzzle, i.e. is it possible to work out the answer that I’m thinking of if you haven’t seen it before? The sequence is: 4, 8, 12, 2, 1, 6, 7, 3, 5… Hint: This sequence has a limited number of terms. Bigger hint: There are only a total of 12 terms in the sequence. I’ll post my answer next week, once people have had a chance to give it a try. ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-comes-next-in-this-sequence/774768/2 "2016-12-15T14:05:48Z")
The next one is 11. And you have 6 and 7 switched. July is before June. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-comes-next-in-this-sequence/774768/3 "2016-12-15T17:01:38Z")
Oops, you’re quite right of course. Corrected sequence: 4, 8, 12, 2, 1, 7, 6, 3, 5… ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-comes-next-in-this-sequence/774768/4 "2016-12-15T17:33:12Z")
Show of hands: Was anyone else’s first reaction to look this up in the Online Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences? ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-comes-next-in-this-sequence/774768/5 "2016-12-15T18:19:58Z")
Why am I not surprised, though faintly disappointed, to find out such an online resource exists? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-comes-next-in-this-sequence/774768/6 "2016-12-15T21:42:21Z")
Why disappointed? It’s a valuable research tool. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-comes-next-in-this-sequence/774768/7 "2016-12-15T23:55:42Z")
I know, but I can imagine its use as a method of avoiding having to think out such things for one’s self when assigned to do so. I do see that the database was started in 1965 by a grad student interested in combinatorics, so that’s pretty cool. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2016, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-comes-next-in-this-sequence/774768/8 "2016-12-16T08:19:29Z")
I did Google it before posting as I didn’t know if it was a well-known puzzle - looked to me like it wasn’t, but the OEIS hit didn’t come up for some reason (and yes, when I Googled I did have the numbers in the right order!). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2016, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-comes-next-in-this-sequence/774768/9 "2016-12-16T14:44:32Z")
8, 7, 5, 10, 11, 13, 8, 7, 14, 19, 20, 22, ? eta: And if you look it up, it is in the OEIS. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2016, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-comes-next-in-this-sequence/774768/10 "2016-12-19T13:21:06Z")
I doubt anyone’s waiting around here for the answer I promised given the strong hint spoilered in post 2, and the references to OEIS, but I am a man of my word, so: it’s the months of the year (represented by their numerical designation) listed in alphabetical order, so the sequence in the post 3 ends with 11, 10, 9. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-comes-next-in-this-sequence/774768/11 "2016-12-20T06:23:04Z")
Here’s the answer to mine: 1 2 4 8 16 - 1+6=7 32 - 3+2=5 64 - 6+4=10 128 - 1+2+8=11 256 - 2+5+6=13 512 - 5+1+2=8 1024 - 1+2+4=7 2048 - 2+4+8=14 4096 - 4+9+6=19 8192 - 8+1+9+2=20 16384 - 1+6+3+8+4=22 32768 - 26 65536 - 25 131072 - 14 262144 - 19 524288 - 29 1048576 - 31 2097152 - 26 As I noted above, this sequence is not new. But I did independently invent it on my own. I like the way it develops; rising but not steadily.