Which number replaces the question mark?

In a series of figures that share the same layout, the numbers already filled in usually encode ONE consistent arithmetic rule connecting the given values to the missing one. Such a rule often combines the given numbers with one operation (for example, multiplication) and then applies a second value (a divisor) that changes in a simple, predictable way, such as increasing by 1, from one figure to the next. The task is to find the rule that fits every figure whose answer is already known, then apply that same rule to the figure with the unknown value.

1. In the first circle, the top numbers are 8 and 4 and the bottom number is 16. Multiplying the top numbers gives 8 × 4 = 32, and dividing by 2 gives 32 ÷ 2 = 16, which matches the given bottom number.

2. In the second circle, the top numbers are 8 and 9 and the bottom number is 24. Multiplying gives 8 × 9 = 72, and dividing by 3 gives 72 ÷ 3 = 24, which again matches. The divisor used has increased from 2 to 3.

3. Since the divisor increases by 1 from the first circle to the second, the divisor for the third circle should increase again, from 3 to 4.

4. In the third circle, the top numbers are 9 and 12. Multiplying gives 9 × 12 = 108, and dividing by 4 gives 108 ÷ 4 = 27.

As a check, the divisors used across the three circles — 2, 3, and 4 — increase by exactly 1 each time, consistent with the pattern confirmed by the first two circles, and 108 ÷ 4 gives a whole number, just as the first two circles produced whole-number results.

So the missing number is 27.