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Rapid Fire: Difference of Squares

Medium · Mental Math & Estimation · Quant Trader interview question · mental-math, arithmetic, algebra, interview-prep, trading-floor

During a high-pressure mental math screen for a Quantitative Researcher role, you are asked to compute the product of two numbers that are equidistant from a "friendly" integer. Speed is critical; brute-force multiplication is too slow. Calculate the result: $$26 \times 24$$