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Sixth pairwise product of four positive reals

Question

Four positive real numbers a,b,c,da,b,c,d are multiplied in all 66 possible pairs, and the six products are exactly 9,10,12,27,309,10,12,27,30 and some unknown xx. Determine xx.

Short answer

452\tfrac{45}{2}. The ratios 9:109:10 and 27:3027:30 suggest two numbers in ratio 9:109:10 each multiplied by two other numbers. Taking c=2c=2, d=6d=6 gives a=92a=\tfrac92, b=5b=5, which produces 9,10,27,309,10,27,30 and cd=12cd=12. The remaining product is ab=92⋅5=452ab=\tfrac92\cdot5=\tfrac{45}{2}.

Adapted from QuantQuestions.io; question and answer rewritten by SelfMadeQuant.com.

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