Friday 8/30/13 Riddle of the week

gistfile1.txt

(Answers below all questions)

WARMUP
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Given a series of equalities that have been solved: 

8809 = 6
7111 = 0
2172 = 0
6666 = 4
1111 = 0
3213 = 0
7662 = 2
9312 = 1
0000 = 4
2222 = 0
3333 = 0
5555 = 0
8193 = 3
8096 = 5
7777 = 0
9999 = 4
7756 = 1
6855 = 3
9881 = 5
5531 = 0

What is the answer to this equality?
2581 = ?

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RIDDLE TIME  -  MATH 24  -  How do you apply the operators +, -, *, /, (, ) on a set of numbers 
to get the answer 24?   (implicit (^) operator is not available)

Each number can only be used once, but can be reordered as you see fit.  You can
use the operators as many times as you want.

Part A)  2, 2, 8, 8 (easier)
Part B)  3, 3, 8, 8 (harder)


Answers
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Warmup:  2581 = 2      The answer is based on the number of closed circles you can find in the number. There are two closed circls in the number '8' example, hence the answer is 2

1. There are a number of answers for this... An easy one is this:   2*2*8-8, but I saw others from you guys
2. This one is a bit tougher...   8 / (3 - 8/3)