How To Solve This Fun Math Problem?

Hint: Use algebra!

Hemanth
Street Science

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How to solve this fun math problem? 2¹⁴ - 1 = ?
2¹⁴ - 1 = ? → Math illustrated by the author

I recently came across this fun math Olympiad problem and enjoyed solving it. When I was a school-going child, math was supposed to be something very serious.

My teachers taught the subject with a serious face while I did my best just to survive the math hour. These days, I do what I can to make math as fun as possible, as I believe both math and we deserve it.

I feel that problems like these tip the needle a little bit, which is why I like writing about them. This problem involves the following question/equation:

2¹⁴ - 1 = ?

All you need to do is compute the outcome. Do you think you can solve this problem quickly?

Spoiler Alert

I will be discussing the solution to this problem explicitly beyond this section. So, if you wish to try it out on your own first, I suggest that you pause reading this essay at this point and go ahead.

Once you are done, you may continue reading and comparing our respective approaches.

Powers of 2

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