The three-digit number missing from the equation is 998. Strangely, the number jumps from 997 to 999. The number 998,001 is actually part of a small family of numbers with interesting mathematical quirks: the numbers that are the squares of repeating 9s. 998,001 happens to be the square of 999… More here.
Call me a nerd if you like, but I find this oddly fascinating.
Categories: Misc
McGST 
Nerd, geek, whatever. Join the club. I still have a book titled Riddles in Mathematics that I got when I was around 10 years old. I hope to pass it on to my grandson. He may look at it as an antique, it certainly presents like one, but maybe it will prompt him to look deeper.
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