The internet left stumped by 7yo's math problem

The question seems unsolvable, but we can't stop thinking about one major detail.

A mum has expressed frustration after her child brought home a maths problem from school that she found so confusing it appeared unsolvable.

After posting the problem on social media, it became clear that the rest of the internet also struggled to wrap their heads around it.

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Image: Facebook

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The confusing maths problem

In a post on the Facebook group Breastfeeding Mama Talk, mum Angie said that her seven-year-old daughter Ayla's latest maths question left her scratching her head.

"OK, we're all stumped, this is my second-grader's homework - HELP!" she wrote.

The question read: "There are 49 dogs signed up to compete in the dog show. There are 36 more small dogs than large dogs signed up to compete. How many small dogs are signed up to compete?"

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People were confident they had the answer...

In the comments, people quickly jumped to the conclusion that the answer was either 36 or 49.

"I’m no mathematician but this seems pretty easy to me. It’s 36, right?" wrote one user.

And then a second confidently declared: "It says there are 49 dogs signed up to compete" right at the start!!!! So the answer is 49. Looking at the responses, if y’all are actually teachers answering this with anything other than 49, it’s no wonder the education system is going down the pan!!!!!"

Countless others incorrectly guessed that the answer was 13.

Then thankfully a few brainiacs came to the rescue and enlightened everyone.

This person answered: "Let the No. of large dogs be x. No. Of small dogs = x+36, x+x+36 = 49, 2x=13, X=6.5. Therefore, No. Of large dogs =6.5, No. Of small dogs =42.5. Which is not really possible. So, the question needs to be fixed."

And Angie came back to update her post to share that 42.5 was indeed the correct answer, albeit leaving half a dog unaccounted for.

Well done to any seven-year-olds who managed to solve that one!

Image: Reddit

Not the first time internet stumped by kids' maths question

It seems you have to be a mathematician in order to solve kids' maths questions these days because the internet was left collectively stumped by a similar question earlier this year.

The question, posted to Reddit, started off by referencing a previous equation that read: "200 + 60 + 9 = 269."

Seems simple, right? But here’s where it gets tricky. The next question encourages students to "stretch your thinking" by writing another addition equation.

It instructed: "The equation must have a 1-, a 2- and a 3-digit addend and use all of these digits."

The digits in question included; 6, 6, 2, 2, 8, 8, 0, 0 and 0.

A mum shared a photo of the question next to some working out that’s been scribbled out. She captioned the post: "Second-grade math question that we can’t figure out. The teacher asked for an answer as well that included the numbers. I am so stuck!! This is probably so easy, but after an hour I’m at my wits' end! Second grade!!!"

She added: "Please help this mama out."

People then rushed to the comments to give the equation a crack and share their thoughts on the question.

"Fasten your seatbelts... we're going from 'Are you smarter than a fifth grader?' to 'Are you smarter than a second grader?'" one user quipped. A second critiqued the question, saying: "Okay but what the heck is this supposed to teach the kids? Guess and check?"

A third then made the point, "The unnecessary hyphens after the one and two kinda makes the question confusing, especially for a child."

Can you figure it out? Find out the answer in the story here.

Originally published as The internet left stumped by 7yo's math problem