What should come in place of question mark (?) in the following number series?
65, 33, 17, 9, 5, ?

Options

A. 4
B. 4.5
C. 5
D. 3

Answer

To solve the number series: 65, 33, 17, 9, 5, ?, we need to identify the pattern in the series.

### Step-by-Step Solution:

1. **Identify the pattern in the series**:
- The series is decreasing: 65, 33, 17, 9, 5.
- We will look at the differences between consecutive terms.

2. **Calculate the differences**:
- 65 - 33 = 32
- 33 - 17 = 16
- 17 - 9 = 8
- 9 - 5 = 4

The differences are: 32, 16, 8, 4.

3. **Observe the pattern in the differences**:
- The differences are halving each time:
- 32 (which is 32/2 = 16)
- 16 (which is 16/2 = 8)
- 8 (which is 8/2 = 4)

4. **Continue the pattern**:
- The next difference should be half of 4, which is 2.

5. **Calculate the next term**:
- Subtract the next difference (2) from the last term (5):
- 5 - 2 = 3

6. **Conclusion**:
- The next term in the series is 3.

### Final Answer:
The value that should come in place of the question mark (?) is **3**.

---