This maths brainteaser might make you tearful.
Maths is one of those subjects that divides opinion in the classroom; some students shine, while others find it tough to get their heads around algebra and geometry.
Yet, it’s undeniably useful in real life – from calculating a discount during your shopping spree to dividing things equally. Tackling various maths puzzles can also sharpen your cognitive abilities and enhance problem-solving skills, even potentially warding off conditions like dementia by reinforcing brain cell connections.
If you fancy challenging your numerical prowess, then this perplexing exam question might be just the ticket. But a word of caution: this particular puzzle was so vexing it reduced one woman to tears, unable to find the solution.
A TikTok video posted by The Math Tutor begins with an American teenager, already overwhelmed with emotion, exclaiming, “I hate word problems”, as she attempts to decipher a complex riddle-like exam question rather than a simple equation.
The puzzling question goes as follows: “One number is 5 more than another number. Three times the greater plus twice the lesser is 30. Determine the numbers.”
The girl in the video expressed her frustration, admitting that the question was “messing” with her mind as she struggled to decipher what it was asking. It might sound perplexing at first, but when you dissect it, the puzzle is surprisingly simple to resolve with some elementary algebra.
The subsequent part of the TikTok tutorial demonstrated how to work out the baffling problem – so if you’re not ready for spoilers, avoid any further scrolling!
To tackle it, start by translating the worded conundrum into straightforward algebraic expressions. The initial sentence tells us about “one number”, labelled X, which holds a value five greater than another number, Y, establishing our initial equation: x = 5 + y.
Given that X must be larger than Y according to this formula, we can infer what the next statement implies. It posits that three times X plus twice Y totals 30.
Thus our second equation is formulated as: 3x + 2y = 30. .
Solving these equations isn’t necessarily a walk in the park, but with a touch of algebra knowledge, it’s achievable. Begin with the latter equation and replace X with its equivalent from the first.
This revision gives you: 3(5 + y) + 2y = 30. .
Subtracting 15 from the other side of the equation adjusts our total, allowing us to simplify it to 5y = 15. Solve by dividing 15 by 5 to find Y, which is 3.
To tie up the original equation, with Y valued at 3, X must therefore be 8, in line with X = 5 + 3.