Complete the sequence: 2, ___, 4, 12, 48

To identify the missing number in the sequence 2, ___, 4, 12, 48, it is helpful to look for a pattern among the numbers.

Starting from the first two numbers, you can observe how the sequence progresses. The number 2 multiplies to yield 4, which is the third number in the sequence. From the fourth number, 12, it appears that the numbers are increasing by being multiplied by progressively larger whole numbers. Specifically, if we look at the relationship between the numbers, we can establish the following:

• The first number (2) multiplied by 2 gives you the second number (which is the missing number).

• Then, the second number, which we identified as 4, when multiplied by 3 gives you 12.

• Finally, multiplying the number 12 by 4 yields 48.

Thus, the second number can be seen as the result of multiplying the previous number (2) by 2 to get 4. Therefore, the missing number should be 2, which effectively completes the sequence:

2 (2 * 1) → 2 (2 * 2) → 4 → 12 → 48.

This consistent rule of multiplying each subsequent