Owlet puzzle #15
Released Monday, July 20, 2026 UTC
12496
the answer for puzzle #15
The five clues
- A five-digit multiple of sixteen.
- Start of a chain of five numbers whose divisor sums cycle.
- It is a sociable number of period 5.
- The chain: 12496 → 14288 → 15472 → 14536 → 14264 → 12496.
- Smallest sociable number (Poulet, 1918).
Backstory
Perfect numbers have aliquot period 1, amicable pairs period 2, and sociable chains can go longer. 12496 begins the first known 5-cycle: 12496 → 14288 → 15472 → 14536 → 14264 → 12496. Poulet discovered it in 1918.
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