Can you solve the simple maths question confusing adults?

[ravip]

A new brainteaser that many adults are getting wrong has been sweeping the web – can you get it right?

Do you know the correct answer to: 9 - 3 ÷ 1/3 + 1 = ?

It may seem easy enough to answer - but the question is an example of slipping maths standards across generations, it has been claimed. “This problem went viral in Japan after a study found 60 per cent of 20 somethings could get the correct answer, down from a rate of 90 percent in the 1980s,” explained Presh Talwalkar. “I explain a common mistake and how to get the correct answer…,” he wrote on his popular YouTube MindYourDecisions page where he regularly posts riddles and logic puzzles.

[khh7]

1

[GanDoonToonPet]

1

[Briggsy]

The answer is 1.

[SoiBiker]

Yep, it's 1. Pretty obvious, surely?

[manfredtillmann]

9

multiplications and divisions before additions and subtractions

3 divided by 1/3 = 1

9 - 1 + 1= 9

i have never been good at maths....

[SoiBiker]

3 divided by 1/3 = 1 ?

You might want to have another look at that one.

[Rob13]

Pretty sure it needs parentheses otherwise you got an equation that looks like 9-3/1/3+1 which doesn't make much sense but might be 9, but then again I bombed Algebra so i dunno.

[manfredtillmann]

3 divided by 1/3 = 1 ?

You might want to have another look at that one.

as i wrote, maths has never been my top subject.

so what is 3 divided by 1/3?

happy to learn.

[Crossy]

3 divided by 1/3 = 1 ?

You might want to have another look at that one.

as i wrote, maths has never been my top subject.

so what is 3 divided by 1/3?

happy to learn.

3 divided by 1/3 = 9

So the answer is 1

[Gsxrnz]

The answer is 1.

The problem is, if you just tap the numbers and processes into a calculator, it cannot get it right unless the bodmas is correct. Anybody who knows their maths doing it on paper or in their head should get it right, which is essentially 9-9+1.

[manfredtillmann]

3 divided by 1/3 = 1 ?

You might want to have another look at that one.

as i wrote, maths has never been my top subject.

so what is 3 divided by 1/3?

happy to learn.

3 divided by 1/3 = 9

So the answer is 1

i know i don't get this, but how can a small number divided by something be a larger number. if i have 3 apples and divide them into 3 parts i end up with 1?

[Rob13]

3 divided by 1/3 = 1 ?

You might want to have another look at that one.

as i wrote, maths has never been my top subject.

so what is 3 divided by 1/3?

happy to learn.

3 divided by 1/3 = 9

So the answer is 1

Thing is 1/3 is 1 divided by 3, so wouldn't it be 3 divided by 1 divided by 3 =1 ?

Which would make the answer 9.

[Denim]

I make it 3.

But maths is not my strong point.

9 - 3 = 6

1 third of 6 is 2

2 + 1 = 3

3 ???????????????

Hmmmm but 6 divided by a 1/3 is 18

So could be 19

[GanDoonToonPet]

3 divided by 1/3 = 1 ?

You might want to have another look at that one.

as i wrote, maths has never been my top subject.

so what is 3 divided by 1/3?

happy to learn.

3 divided by 1/3 = 9

So the answer is 1

i know i don't get this, but how can a small number divided by something be a larger number. if i have 3 apples and divide them into 3 parts i end up with 1?

You aren't dividing 3 apples into 3 parts, you are dividing 3 apples into 1/3 (third) parts. To look at it another way 9 thirds of an (1) apple make 3 apples...

[manfredtillmann]

3 divided by 1/3 = 1 ?

You might want to have another look at that one.

as i wrote, maths has never been my top subject.

so what is 3 divided by 1/3?

happy to learn.

3 divided by 1/3 = 9

So the answer is 1

got it now, thank you for putting up with my ignorance

[Rob13]

3 divided by 1/3 = 1 ?

You might want to have another look at that one.

as i wrote, maths has never been my top subject.

so what is 3 divided by 1/3?

happy to learn.

3 divided by 1/3 = 9

So the answer is 1

got it now, thank you for putting up with my ignorance

Manfred. I think you were right the first time.

[SoiBiker]

And yet we slag off the Thai education system?

Lord knows where some of you went to school.

[ravip]

[shirtless]

should be 19

[bkkmick]

BODMAS

[wpcoe]

I can honestly say I don't think I was ever taught to do multiplication/division before addition/subtraction. By any chance is this a British maths vs American math thing?

[SoiBiker]

I can honestly say I don't think I was ever taught to do multiplication/division before addition/subtraction. By any chance is this a British maths vs American math thing?

No. It's a right vs wrong thing.

[SoiBiker]

should be 19

Show your working.

[manfredtillmann]

And yet we slag off the Thai education system?

Lord knows where some of you went to school.

at an elitist private school that tought me everything (including irregular english verbs). and advanced mathematics. i remember my english. i just did not understand or remember the maths. don't blame the school...

[SoiBiker]

I guess they didn't teach you to use capital letters either.

[manfredtillmann]

I guess they didn't teach you to use capital letters either.

when i learned email in in the '70s (was that before you were born?), using capital letters was considered 'shouting'. you must have encountered that before with people of my vintage.

[SoiBiker]

They let someone who can't do basic arithmetic near a computer in the 70s?

[Familyonthemove]

I think the uncertainty comes from the poor drafting. If we assume there should be brackets around 1/3 as in a properly written equation, then the answer is 1.

But if we take it as written, then it's 19.

[manfredtillmann]

They let someone who can't do basic arithmetic near a computer in the 70s?

there was no one there smart enough to keep me away from my commodore 28...

good try, but

edit: albert einstein failed in high school.... just saying.