This question is supposed to be for kids, but it's leaving adults stumped.
Let's face it, some maths questions that our kids get set for their homework can leave us completely baffled, even though our little ones have no problem solving them. There are a lot of facets of maths that most of us don't use every day so we've long forgotten how to put them into practice, and it's left us looking rusty in the face of what should be a very easy question.
And this seemingly simple puzzle is no different. The multiple choice question went viral on social media after being shared by multiple people, with some even claiming it was so hard to work out that it "hurt" their heads.
The question has left some adults baffled (@yawdmontweet/Twitter)The question was shared on X (formerly Twitter) by a man under the username @yawdmontweet, and it simply asked: "What is the closest time to midnight?" Children sitting the test then had four multiple choice answers to choose from, which were: "A. 11:55 am, B. 12:06 am, C. 11:50 am, or D. 12:03 am."
While the answer might seem obvious to you at first, people were left baffled in the comments of the tweet as they were unable to work out if the question was asking them to find the time that was closest to midnight without having past midnight.
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For this reason, many thought the answer was A, as it's the latest time listed, so therefore the closest to the next midnight. One person said: "It says closest 'To' midnight. And not 'From' Midnight. Stop overcomplicating everything. Answer is A."
While another added: "It says closest TO midnight ... not after midnight. A." And a third posted: "Would have to be A, time cannot go in reverse so the fact that B and D are after midnight, they couldn't be the answer."
However, other frustrated commenters shut down those who believed the answer was A, as they insisted the question was merely asking children which of the times was "closest" to midnight, regardless of whether it was before or after it - making the answer D, 12:03 am.
Someone fumed: "Y'all are getting me f***ing mad now. If you call an airline and ask for the closest flight to midnight possible and they put you on an 11:55 am flight instead of a few minutes past midnight, you would be frigging furious. Maths is supposed to be practical."
And someone else agreed, adding: "How y'all saying 'to' not 'after'. If you have to work at midnight and you're running late, and you tell the boss 'I'll get there as close to the time as possible' which of these is that?"
"The question speaks to proximity and not chronology, so the answer is D," another wrote, while a fourth also said: "Clearly a lot of children have been left behind. The answer is D!!! 'To' just means closest to the time itself, not insinuating that it's necessarily before midnight."
A version of this story was first published on 9th July 2023.
What do you think the answer is? Let us know in the comments!
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