\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|}
\hline
16 & 28 & 29 \\
\hline
13 & 12 & 16 \\
\hline
14 & 10 & 15 \\
\hline
15 & 30 & [tex]$?$[/tex] \\
\hline
\end{tabular}

Determine the value of the question mark ([tex]$?$[/tex]) in the table above.



Answer :

Let's solve the problem step by step by first understanding the given matrix and what information we need to find. We have:

[tex]\[ \begin{array}{|c|c|c|} \hline 16 & 28 & 29 \\ \hline 13 & 12 & 16 \\ \hline 14 & 10 & 15 \\ \hline 15 & 30 & ? \\ \hline \end{array} \][/tex]

Our objective is to find the missing number in the last entry of the third column, denoted as [tex]\( ? \)[/tex].

First, let's calculate the sum of each column:

[tex]\[ \begin{aligned} &\text{Sum of Column 1: } 16 + 13 + 14 + 15, \\ &\text{Sum of Column 2: } 28 + 12 + 10 + 30,\\ &\text{Sum of Column 3: } 29 + 16 + 15 + ?. \end{aligned} \][/tex]

Let's compute these sums step-by-step.

1. Sum of Column 1:
[tex]\[ 16 + 13 + 14 + 15 = 58. \][/tex]

2. Sum of Column 2:
[tex]\[ 28 + 12 + 10 + 30 = 80. \][/tex]

3. Sum of Column 3 without the missing value:
[tex]\[ 29 + 16 + 15 = 60. \][/tex]

We assume that the sum of each column should be approximately equal (within a reasonable range since no other pattern or information is given). To estimate the missing number, we can find the average of the sums of the two known columns.

[tex]\[ \text{Average sum of the known columns} = \frac{(58 + 80)}{2} = \frac{138}{2} = 69. \][/tex]

We expect the sum of the third column to be 69. Therefore, we can find the missing number ([tex]\( ? \)[/tex]) by subtracting the sum of the known entries in the third column from this expected sum:

[tex]\[ ? = 69 - 60 = 9. \][/tex]

Thus, the missing number in the third column is [tex]\( \boxed{9} \)[/tex].

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