Which of the following numbers will replace the question mark (?) in the given series?
7, 16, 43, 124, 367, ?

The correct answer is 1096.

To find the number that replaces the question mark (?) in the given series, let us analyze the pattern followed by the numbers:

7, 16, 43, 124, 367, ?

Method 1: Multiplying by 3 and subtracting 5

Each term in the series is obtained by multiplying the previous term by 3 and subtracting 5 from the result:

$7\times 3-5=21-5=16$

$16\times 3-5=48-5=43$

$43\times 3-5=129-5=124$

$124\times 3-5=372-5=367$

Applying the same logic to calculate the missing term (?):

$367\times 3-5=1101-5=1096$

Method 2: Adding consecutive powers of 3

Alternatively, we can examine the difference between consecutive terms:

$16-7=9=3^2$

$43-16=27=3^3$

$124-43=81=3^4$

$367-124=243=3^5$

The differences are increasing powers of 3 ($3^2,3^3,3^4,3^5$). Therefore, the next difference to add to 367 must be:

$3^6=729$

Adding this difference to 367 gives:

$367+729=1096$

Hence, the number that replaces the question mark (?) is 1096.