From viewing these at first glance, these math problems look simple. However, upon trying to solve them, you may find that they contain more than meets the eye.
Math can be extremely complicated, and while some math problems may be simple, the more advanced a problem gets, the more likely you are to not be able to solve them. Try these out for example:
Pick a number.
Pick a random number, and then divide it in half. Now, multiply the same number by the number 3, and add one. Repeat this with the same number. No matter what you do or how far you go, you will always end up with 1. Weird, eh?
The Bat?
‘A Bat and ball cost one dollar and ten cents. The bat cost one dollar more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?’
Think about it.
Did you say ten cents?
If you did- then you are wrong. The bat costs five cents. While you may assume ten, the difference between $1 and 10 is 90. The ball would have to be $1.05, because the only way for it to be a dollar more than the ball is to be $0.05.
Please excuse my dear aunt Sally.
If you frequent the internet, it’s likely you have seen this one.
So, did you get it right? The answer is 9. Most of us are using PEMDAS to solve this, and interpret the saying wrong. We forget that just because a number touches a parentheses doesn’t mean we should multiply it before dividing the other problem.
9 – 3 ÷ 1/3 + 1 = ?
Only 60 % of the engineers who tried to solve this problem in a major Japanese study could.
Since it includes a comma, the way the problem is solved is also another variation of PEMDAS. First, you need to divide 3 by 1/3. Since dividing fractions requires that you multiply, you should get 9. And your final answer should be 1.
1,000+ 40+1000+30+1000+ 20 +10
If you try to use a calculator to solve this, you will end up with the wrong answer. Ifs you got 5,000 you are wrong. The answer is actually 4,100. When you add this up, you probably didn’t get into the habit of carrying the ones over, thus causing you to have the wrong answer.