11 Math Riddles You Won't Solve On The First Try
With math riddles, you're often on the brink of total despair – but can you solve these riddles on the first try? It's not that easy!
Online, people keep arguing whether the solution to the math problem is 1 or 16. However, according to Michael Breen, who is the Public Awareness Officer for the American Mathematical Society, the result is 16, strictly speaking. He explains that first of all, you have to solve whatever is in parenthesis first. So 2+2 gives you 4. Then, since division and multiplication are of priority, you calculate from left to right, meaning 8 divided by 2; this gives you 4 again. Then you calculate 4x4 which gives you 16.
Easy, right?
