If there is something that could keep netizens hooked, it’s a good puzzle. So when you see something going viral that could intrigue you, why not give it a shot! The micro-blogging website, Twitter is right now teeming with responses on a rather simple-looking, but nonetheless a confounding riddle.
“Solve carefully”, said the user @kj_cheetham, as he shared this ‘funny rather than stupid math meme’: 230 – 220 x 0.5 =
A maths meme that is actually funny rather than stupid:
Solve carefully!
230 – 220 x 0.5 =You probably won’t believe it but the answer is 5!#maths
— KJ Cheetham ❄️🔶 (@kj_cheetham) July 13, 2019
The mathematicians of the Twitter-verse and began to solve the puzzle; the answer of which, surprisingly enough, is not 5.
— embryo cow thing (@becomingworthy) July 14, 2019
https://twitter.com/maroleon111/status/1150663197914890241
Many people could not realise what the hype was all about… Also, why has the OP been so confident, if not just excited, about the answer being ‘5’, when it’s not.
Ambiguously worded question:
(230-220) x 0.5 = 5
230 – (220 x 0.5) = 120— Richard Bentall #FBPE Project We Told You So. (@RichardBentall) July 13, 2019
I am not advanced enough to understand why this is not 120 and that makes me sad ☹
— EU Naughty Boy #BlackLivesMatter 🇪🇺 🏳️🌈 (@RemainOnly) July 13, 2019
No, it’s 120, unless it’s written (230-220) x 0.5.
Multiplication has a higher priority than addition or subtraction, unless overridden by brackets
— David Hazel #FBPE #PeoplesVote 🇪🇺 (@dhazel418) July 13, 2019
230-220*0,5=
230-(220/2)=
230-110=
120How does this equate 5?
— ((( Kevin Karhan ))) 🛡️ #PNCHNZS 24/7! (@k3vk4) July 14, 2019
It can’t be 5. I calculated it to be 5 and I’m dreadful at maths, so it’s definitely not 5.
— Jen #RejoinEU (@MrsJenRemainer) July 13, 2019
No, it’s 42. Because that’s the answer to Life, the Universe, and the Rest.
— Erick Staal (@ErickStaal) July 13, 2019
Is this me? Or is this a ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ reference? Well played.
However, the meme wasn’t ‘out of the syllabus’ for everybody. Some of those who understood, hinted at their moment of epiphany, while mostly keeping things spoiler-free.
Epic trolling. I've been physically attacked by @CristinaCrisMih for showing this to her
— Geoff Mackenzie (@radicalabacus) July 13, 2019
I had to think 1 min why….
12 years ago i would have known it immediately!
I'm getting old… Oh Noooooo— Peter Millet (@peter_millet) July 14, 2019
— Bear 🥕👙 #FBB (@Valuable2017) July 14, 2019
Have you figured out the puzzle yet?
Is it 5? No! It is 5!
— Stefan Rahmstorf (@rahmstorf) July 14, 2019
5! = 5x4x3x2x1 = 120
— KJ Cheetham ❄️🔶 (@kj_cheetham) July 13, 2019
"It needs brackets to be 5"
Oh… 5! It no longer needs the brackets— Kat 🏳️🌈 (@Kat_Says_Stuff) July 14, 2019
For those who are missing how this could be true with traditional order of operations, note that 5 is not 5!
Here "!" is not an exclamation point, but a factorial.
I thought it was clever and want to make sure everyone else does too.
— James Schloss (@LeiosOS) July 14, 2019
For the people who might not know, the exclamation mark might seem like a punctuation. But that is the twist – it is not – it’s actually a symbol for factorial. In mathematics, the factorial of a positive integer is denoted by ‘n!’. It is the product of all positive integers less than or equal to n. Meaning, in this case, for 5!, it’s actually — 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1, and the answer is 120.
How long did you take to figure it out?
Cover Image: Source