Life

Can You Solve This Math Problem In 20 Seconds?

by Kat George

Are you smarter than a 6-year-old? To solve this math question gone viral, you will have to be. The viral math problem comes courtesy of the entrance exam for first graders into a Hong Kong school, and requires the student to solve it in twenty seconds. I'm going to be real with you: I'm 30 and would be officially rejected from that school. So I guess I am not smarter than a 6-year-old. The question first entered the social media world when it was tweeted by math genius Alex Bellos, and has since sent the Internet into a frenzy. Because what does it mean for mankind if adults can't even solve a problem designed for children? WHAT ARE WE? WHAT ARE WE TO BECOME?

So before you scroll down to see and attempt to answer the question, make sure you set your timer. 20 seconds: That's all you get. Side note: If someone had've told me when I was in school that math problems would go "viral" and people would be voluntarily scrambling to solve them, I wouldn't have believed it. But this is the world we live in now. Even math has the potential to go viral. Anyway, here's the question. See how you fare:

Here's the answer...DRUM ROLL PLEASE!...It's 87. And the answer has nothing to do you with math. Yes, you've been PUNK'D! (sort of). All you have to do is flip the picture upside down, and you'll see the numbers are chronological.

Now that your brain is already in math mode, here's another math problems that went massively viral (smh). It's a problem from a Singapore school designed for high school students. See if you can solve it.

You can watch the answer play out here:

The things you learn, huh!

Images: Getty Images; Giphy (2)