Excel BI - Excel Challenge 648

🔰 List the first 20 numbers which are both perfect square and perfect cube.

Illustration for Excel BI - Excel Challenge 648

Challenge Description

🔰 List the first 20 numbers which are both perfect square and perfect cube.

Solutions

R Solution

library(tidyverse)
library(readxl)

path = "Excel/648 Both Perfect Square and Perfect Cube.xlsx"
test  = read_excel(path, range = "A1:A21")

result = data.frame(`Answer Expected` = 1:20) %>% map_dfr(., ~.x ^ (2 * 3))

all.equal(result$Answer.Expected, test$`Answer Expected`)
#> [1] TRUE

R Analysis

• Logic: Read the workbook ranges needed for the challenge.
• Strengths: The code maps the workbook rule into a compact, reproducible pipeline.
• Areas for Improvement: The solution assumes the workbook layout and selected ranges remain stable, so any structural change in the sheet would require small adjustments.
• Gem: The elegant part is how little code is needed once the correct intermediate representation is chosen.

Python Solution

import pandas as pd

path = "648 Both Perfect Square and Perfect Cube.xlsx"
test = pd.read_excel(path, usecols="A", nrows=21).squeeze().tolist()

result = [x**(2*3) for x in range(1, 21)]
print(result==test) # True

Python

The Python version keeps the algorithm explicit, which helps when the challenge depends on a greedy or iterative rule.

Difficulty Level

Easy / Medium

The business rule is clear, though the workbook still needs a few transformation steps to reach the expected output.

Related Challenges

• Excel Challenge 649
• Excel Challenge 650
• Excel Challenge 651