Viral Math Question For 9-year-olds Leaves Internet Baffled

A math question intended for nine-year-olds has left adults feeling perplexed and labelling it as “nonsense”. The seemingly straightforward task of addition and subtraction in the question’s intricate layout has sparked an online debate about the approach to children’s education in mathematics.

The conundrum, which is difficult to comprehend, even for adults, was shared on Reddit by a user who claimed that it was homework given to his 9-year-old cousin. The photo posted displays a puzzle with eight squares arranged in the shape of a diamond. The upper square contains the number ’40,’ and the lower one holds ’25’. The six squares in between are blank, each connected by either a plus or minus sign.

Equal signs are positioned between the numbered squares and the adjacent empty ones. Above the diamond, the directive reads “Find the missing numbers.” If merely describing the problem was challenging enough, answering the question proved to be an even greater puzzler for Reddit users.

One user expressed frustration, saying they did not even know in which order to read the problem while yet another said the problem itself was flawed. Many criticised the homework assignment, asserting that it attempted unnecessary complexity for the sake of cleverness. One user pointed out, “This question makes no sense whatsoever. Someone tried to be clever and made a mess of a question.”

Some even went so far as to suggest that students should boycott the entire question because of its poorly structured nature, with a recommendation to refuse to answer the nonsensical task and instead include a note stating the household’s refusal to acknowledge the validity of such poorly constructed questions. One user thought that the grades of a nine-year-old hardly mattered and hence teaching basic addition and subtraction to them should not include so much complexity.

So, what do you think about the problem? Can you fill in the empty boxes?