People Can’t Seem To Figure Out The Last Equation And It’s Causing An Online Uproar

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January 03, 2018

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve found myself needing to give more intentional thought toward keeping my brain sharp and active. Far too often, I find myself scrolling through Facebook reading different posts and getting caught up in celebrity gossip and senseless stories.

However, when I saw this picture, I was totally caught off guard! The image below has been circulating The Internet for weeks now and still, people are talking about it. With a plot-twist of an answer, the brain teaser is capturing everyone’s attention.

At first, the puzzle seems simple enough. Clearly, there is a mathematical component to the problem. You would think that the equation would have a simple solution, however, it’s not that simple. Just give it a whirl yourself!

The first problem is both easy and silly; three ducks equals 30. So, basic math tells us 30 divided by 3 is 10. Therefore, one duck is worth 10, creating 10 + 10 + 10 = 30. Simple enough!

Continuing on, one duck plus two horses equals 20. If we know that one duck is 10, that leaves a remainder of 10 and two horses. 10 divided by 2 is 5. Therefore, one horse is 5, allowing the problem to be 10 + 5 + 5 = 20.

The third equation is a little more complex with one horse plus two cows equalling 9. This is the first wrench in the wheel of equations because not only does this math not give an even solution, but it’s also not written out the same way as the others.

You see, in the third equation, there are five animals! The other equations have only three. That makes things a little more difficult. So, let’s take a look at this again, shall we?

This is what we know: one horse is equal to 5. That means we know 5 + four cows =  9. 9 - 5 is 4, and 4 divided by 2 is 1. Therefore, one cow equals 1. The equation is:

5 + (2 x 1) + (2 x 1) = 9

Now, in the final equation, there is one last curveball. The last equation of the brain teaser is one horse times one duck minus one cow. Let's go ahead and replace the animals with the numbers they represent; keeping in mind the order of operations we all learned in seventh-grade math, you would perform the multiplication part of the equation before the subtraction:

(5 x 10) - 1 = 49.

Did you get 49?! I didn’t get the correct answer the first time around and that was so confusing! At first, I got 17, and then, after knowing what the correct answer was, I gave it another shot! Finally, I got it! Let us know if you got the answer and share it with your friends to stump them!

Did you get the correct answer the first time? What strategies did you use in finding the solution? Let us know!!

Next: No One Can See The Double Image In This Portrait - Can You?Dec 18, 2017