Imagine you’re sitting with your friends on a quiet evening, enjoying a cup of coffee and chatting about random things. Suddenly, one of your friends pulls out a piece of paper with a tricky math puzzle written on it.
He smiles confidently and says, “I bet none of you can solve this without making a mistake!”
Everyone becomes curious. He places the paper on the table, and all eyes turn toward the challenge.
The puzzle reads:
120 ÷ 6 + 4 × 5 − 10 = ?
Below the equation are six possible answers:
12
28
35
40
42
55
One friend quickly says, “The answer must be 20!”
Another shakes his head and replies, “No, I think it’s 30!”
A third friend grabs a calculator, but the others stop him immediately.
“No calculators allowed!” someone laughs. “This is a test of your brain, not your phone!”
Now everyone starts calculating in their heads. Some people begin from the left and get one answer, while others follow a different order and get something completely different.
The room becomes filled with arguments, laughter, and confident guesses.
Then the smartest person in the group raises his hand and says, “Wait a minute! Before you solve this, you need to remember one important rule of mathematics.”
Everyone goes silent.
He continues, “In mathematics, the order in which you perform operations matters. You cannot simply calculate everything from left to right without considering the rules.”
Suddenly, everyone looks back at the equation.
Can you solve it correctly without using a calculator?
Take a moment, read the equation carefully, and choose your answer from the six options above.
Don’t rush! Sometimes the simplest-looking questions are the ones that catch us making careless mistakes.
COMMENT YOUR ANSWER BELOW!
Share this challenge with your friends and family to see who can solve it correctly.
Let’s find out who really has sharp mathematical skills!
The correct answer is revealed below
ANSWER: 30
Explanation:
First, divide and multiply before addition and subtraction:
120 ÷ 6 = 20
4 × 5 = 20
Now calculate:
20 + 20 − 10 = 30
Important: The correct answer is 30, but it is missing from the six options shown in the picture! None of the listed choices is correct.
Did you get 30?