The number 1089 is the result of the following experiment:
Take any three-digit integer in which the first digit is at least two more than the last.
Reverse the digits, and subtract the result from the original number.
Add to this result the number produced by reversing its digits.
For example:
732 - 237 = 495 495 + 594 = 1089
Multiplying the number 1089 by the integers from 1 to 9 produces a pattern: multipliers adding up to 10 give products that are the digit reversals of each other.
1 x 1089 = 1089 2 x 1089 = 2178 3 x 1089 = 3267 4 x 1089 = 4356 5 x 1089 = 5445 6 x 1089 = 6534 7 x 1089 = 7623 8 x 1089 = 8712 9 x 1089 = 9801
Numbers formed analogously in other bases, e.g. octal 1067 or hexadecimal 10EF, also have these properties.