Question

Evaluate the number sequence. What number should come next in this following sequence? 6, 2, 12, 4, 24 =

Answer 1

Answer: Either 6 or 8

Step-by-step explanation:

Notice that the first, third and fifth values are: 6,12,24. It appears the pattern here is "times 2". So we double each value to get the next item. This only seems to apply for the odd numbered slots.

For the even number slots, we have the pattern: 2,4. The next item isn't clear. We could do two things

1. add 2
2. multiply by 2

If we go with the first option, then we have 4+2 = 6 as the next term

OR

If we go with the second option, then we have 4*2 = 8 as the next term

Unfortunately, there isn't enough information to know which would actually be the next term. A common problem with sequence problems like this is that there are often many ways to generate the same subsequence, which leads to ambiguity as to what the next term would be.