What should come in place of question mark (?) in the following number series?
18 26 38 62 74 ?

Options

A. 96
B. 108
C. 88
D. 102

Answer

To find the missing number in the series 18, 26, 38, 62, 74, ?, we need to identify the pattern in the differences between the numbers.

1. **Identify the differences between consecutive numbers:**
- From 18 to 26: \(26 - 18 = 8\)
- From 26 to 38: \(38 - 26 = 12\)
- From 38 to 62: \(62 - 38 = 24\)
- From 62 to 74: \(74 - 62 = 12\)

So, the differences are: 8, 12, 24, 12.

2. **Analyze the pattern of differences:**
- The first difference is 8.
- The second difference is 12.
- The third difference is 24.
- The fourth difference is 12.

It appears that the differences are alternating between two patterns. The first difference (8) and the third difference (24) seem to be increasing, while the second (12) and fourth (12) are constant.

3. **Determine the next difference:**
- Following the pattern, after the last difference of 12, we can hypothesize that the next difference should be calculated based on the previous increasing pattern.
- The next difference could be \(7 \times 4 = 28\) (where 7 is the next number in the sequence of multipliers).

4. **Calculate the missing number:**
- Add the next difference to the last number in the series:
\[ 74 + 28 = 102 \]

Thus, the number that should come in place of the question mark (?) is **102**.