The puzzle was posted on Trending in China??s Facebook page where it has attracted more than 1,600 reactions and 2,310 comments.
It contains three lines of problems where the red, blue and yellow flowers add up to a number, with a fourth line showing a different combination where the answer is not given.
People are invited to try to work out what the final total is, with many coming up with very different answers.
Some are confident it is 102 or 110, while others claim it's 25 or 27.
One maths teacher called Doug branded it ??unsolvable?.
Writing on a problem solving website as Professor Puzzler, he said: ??The correct answer to this question is, "No, I cannot solve this." There really is no other answer. If you came up with a numerical value, you were wrong (sorry!).?
He went on to explain that the problem lies in the fact the last blue flower contains one petal less than the others and that the yellow flower is a single one, having been double in the previous sum.
Doug wrote: ??The obvious (and erroneous) lesson to take here is that we're going to count petals instead of flowers.
??This leads people to the result of 25. So why is this wrong? Because the equations are not petal images; they are images of entire flowers.
??We can calculate the value of a red flower, we can calculate the value of a yellow flower, and we can calculate the value of a blue flower with five petals, but we do not have any information with which to calculate the value of a blue flower with four petals.
??Unless we make the assumption that the entire value of a flower lies in its petals.
??Ask a florist if he would sell a flower for the same price if the leaves and stem had been removed. I think you know what he'll say.?
He went on to brand the puzzle a ??waste of my time? and declared it unsolvable.
But some Facebook users also identified the missing petal on the last blue flower and came up with a feasible solution ?? 81.
Some are confident it is 102 or 110, while others claim it's 25 or 27.
I came up with 25 and a headache. 😉 Doe each blue petal represent 1?
Its easy.
Red flowers = 20
Blue flowers = 5
Yellow flowers = 1
The numbers of petals is irrelevant.
Color only.
If you include the number of petals, you are overthinking it, and only then it becomes unsolvable. Since this renders it unsolvable, it is a wrong answer.
So, the answer is 26.
This puzzle is not so much a lesson in math, but a lesson in logic.
Nate
More on the subject"
"But some Facebook users also identified the missing petal on the last blue flower and came up with a feasible solution ?? 81.
How? The puzzle tells us a red flower is worth 20, a blue flower with five petals is worth 5, and two yellow flowers are worth two.
In the final line there is just one yellow flower added to one red flower, which is then multiplied by one blue flower with only four petals.
This makes the equation 1 + 20 x 4.
If you multiply 20 by four, you get 80. By adding the final one, it gives the answer 81."
😎
In less than a minute, I came up with 26 like Nate.
FL/GA PLS., post: 451189, member: 379 wrote: More on the subject"
... which is then multiplied by one blue flower with only four petals.
This makes the equation 1 + 20 x 4.
If you multiply 20 by four, you get 80. By adding the final one, it gives the answer 81."
😎
In the version that I am looking at. There is not a multiplication anywhere in the problem. Are we looking at the same thing?
James
Is it possible to make a .jpg file that morphs like a .gif into something different for each person for the sole purpose of starting a facebook argument?
The last line is (yellow) + (red) + (four petal blue) = ?
No X in sight.
Inquiring minds want to know!
James
Put that on State PLS exams as a bonus question. Make it question one. The 'paralysis by analysis' guys will get stuck on it and never get licensed...
33.5.
I didn't care about the number of petals. Just look at the colors.
20+20+20=60
20+10+10=30
10-2(3.5)=3
3.5+20+10=33.5
thebionicman, post: 451209, member: 8136 wrote: Put that on State PLS exams as a bonus question. Make it question one. The 'paralysis by analysis' guys will get stuck on it and never get licensed...
Based on the following not uncommon scenario for survey posts around here; I believe this is already on the exam in at least one state.
1. Simple question laid out.
2. Obvious answer given
3. Rules changed so initial poster can seem clever (see your supposed to count the blue petals)
4. Rule change questioned
5. Questioner insulted (obviously you can't count rounded petals in a rectangular state)
6. Original poster insulted back. (oh yeah, well we don't do pansy surveying around here)
7. Children sent to time out
8. We're all a little dumber for having witnessed & participated in the exchange.
ppm, post: 451213, member: 6808 wrote: 33.5.
I didn't care about the number of petals. Just look at the colors.
20+20+20=60
20+10+10=30
10-2(3.5)=3
3.5+20+10=33.5
James Fleming, post: 451215, member: 136 wrote:
OMG! I think I need more coffee this morning.
#mathfail
James Fleming, post: 451215, member: 136 wrote:
OMG! I think I need more coffee this morning.
#mathfail.
