4100?
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Spot-on Mike.
As Steve says, many people (myself included) hit 5,000 first time, Then with a bit more care, got to 4.090 and realised where we had gone wrong 
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Im not good at math , diagnosed with number blindness many years ago .
Added the thousands first ,then the tens
Added both together, took no time for me .
Am i missing something 
Hi Alan.
In a nutshell … yes !
But you did get the arithmetic correct. Well done.
With hindsight, perhaps I should have made it clearer that the arithmetic should be done “one line at a time”. (PS i’ve modified the initial teaser to this effect)
eg assume that someone is reading out the numbers one line at a time so that in your head, you have to start with 1000, then add 40 making one thousand and forty, then another 1000 making two thousand and forty then … and so on.
Based on past experience. more than half the respondents get 5,000.
That’s why I said “not really a brain teaser, just a bit of fun”
Cheers
Don
Ok thanks Don , makes sense ,
Have found different ways to look at maths that suit my slightly odd way of seeing numbers , i do get lost sometimes especially with longer numbers ,decimal places can be very confusing to me ( they tend to move around )
I like trying puzzles in my head ,
Nothing to complicated LOL but i do like a challenge
Regards
Alan
Hi Alan,
The way you tackled the actual numbers ie adding the thousands then the tens is probably the easiest and most reliable way of getting the right answer !
Doing it one line at a time, in your head, illustrates how easy it is to make mistakes, even for those who are otherwise good with numbers ! So, thank you for your intervention. I now hope the edited version makes my “one line at a time rule” a bit more obvious.
Cheers
Don
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This one might take all of seven minutes.
Let’s throw a six !
Can you create an expression that is equal to the number 6, using only three zero’s and a few (simple ?) mathematical symbols ?
Eg 2 + 2 + 2 = 6 however I need an expression on the left that uses three zero’s, but only three zero’s and no other numbers, but you can use as many pluses and minuses and other mathematical symbols as necessary.
PS. The heading is not a hint !
840, being 168 X 5.
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Brilliant ! Well done Mike.
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I took that steer to be a bluff, so came up with this:
(0! + 0! + 0!)! = 6
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If @SteveD considers 0!=1 to be invalid, then the following could be used instead of 0!, if we take e and π to be mathematical symbols:
e^0
π^0
I’ve always wanted to use Euler’s equation but never had an opportunity, so how about using:
-e^iπ
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Hi Ravvie,
That’s the solution I used. I wasn’t sure if i’d given too much of a hint !! Well done.
I’m sure Steve could cope with your given solution, but it was nice of you to reveal other, possibly more acceptable, solutions. Nice ones !
Again, a nice option to consider, but (and it’s a bit of a pedantic but) I don’t “see” the inclusion of three zero’s in the potential solution. Unless you add them at the end of the expression as spurious entries ?).
But I do like it !
Mrs R suggested using something like:
(0^0 + 0! - e^iπ)! = 6
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I like Mrs R’s suggestion even better.
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The Road from X to Y.
Our Local Council is building a new road from Village X to Village Y but hasn’t made much progress to date. In fact, they have only completed a few sections as shown on the plan below.
The numbers along the top of the plan and down the side of the plan show how many sections of road will be built in each column and each row. The planned road will not cross itself at any point.
Each cell on the Plan can only contain :-
a straight length of road either horizontally or vertically on the plan or
a 90 deg turn to the right or a turn to the left (or up/down)
Can you complete the Plan ?
(I hope the instructions are clear, if not, just ask and I’ll try to clarify)
Can you continue the following sequence …
1 = 4
2 = 16
3 = 64
4 = ?
5 = ??
6 = …