What will come in place of the question mark (?) in the following number series?
456 ,392 ,360, 344 ,336 (?)

Options

A. 332
B. 328
C. 340
D. 324

Answer

To find the missing number in the series 456, 392, 360, 344, 336, we will analyze the differences between consecutive terms.

1. **Identify the terms in the series:**
- First term: 456
- Second term: 392
- Third term: 360
- Fourth term: 344
- Fifth term: 336
- Sixth term: ?

2. **Calculate the differences between consecutive terms:**
- Difference between 456 and 392:
\( 456 - 392 = 64 \)
- Difference between 392 and 360:
\( 392 - 360 = 32 \)
- Difference between 360 and 344:
\( 360 - 344 = 16 \)
- Difference between 344 and 336:
\( 344 - 336 = 8 \)

3. **List the differences:**
- The differences are: 64, 32, 16, 8.

4. **Observe the pattern in the differences:**
- The differences are halving each time:
- \( 64 \div 2 = 32 \)
- \( 32 \div 2 = 16 \)
- \( 16 \div 2 = 8 \)

5. **Predict the next difference:**
- Continuing the pattern, the next difference should be:
\( 8 \div 2 = 4 \)

6. **Subtract the predicted difference from the last term:**
- Last known term: 336
- Predicted difference: 4
- Therefore, the next term will be:
\( 336 - 4 = 332 \)

7. **Final answer:**
- The number that will come in place of the question mark (?) is **332**.