{"id":21263,"date":"2026-09-28T20:42:42","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T20:42:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thepatswalk.com\/?p=21263"},"modified":"2026-09-28T20:42:42","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T20:42:42","slug":"can-you-solve-this-math-trick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thepatswalk.com\/?p=21263","title":{"rendered":"Can You Solve This Math Trick?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-cptid=\"1502300_teachmelife.net_300x250\">\n<div id=\"1502300_teachmelife.net_300x250\" data-gninstavoid=\"\"><iframe id=\"gnpbad_1502300\" width=\"300\" height=\"250\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" data-aladdin-format=\"true\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>At first glance, this math puzzle looks almost too easy.<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-5\"><\/div>\n<p>You see the statement \u201cAnswer is NOT 25\u201d and then one simple expression underneath it.<\/p>\n<p>That might make you think there is some hidden trick waiting for you.<\/p>\n<div data-cptid=\"1589951_teachmelife.net_Inpage\">\n<div id=\"1589951_teachmelife.net_Inpage\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-6\"><\/div>\n<p>But before guessing, take a moment and solve the equation carefully.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-96346 td-animation-stack-type2-2\" src=\"https:\/\/teachmelife.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/43426fe68d4bcee09018639bea986fa0.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/teachmelife.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/43426fe68d4bcee09018639bea986fa0.jpg 960w, https:\/\/teachmelife.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/43426fe68d4bcee09018639bea986fa0-240x300.jpg 240w, https:\/\/teachmelife.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/43426fe68d4bcee09018639bea986fa0-819x1024.jpg 819w, https:\/\/teachmelife.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/43426fe68d4bcee09018639bea986fa0-768x960.jpg 768w, https:\/\/teachmelife.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/43426fe68d4bcee09018639bea986fa0-336x420.jpg 336w, https:\/\/teachmelife.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/43426fe68d4bcee09018639bea986fa0-640x800.jpg 640w, https:\/\/teachmelife.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/43426fe68d4bcee09018639bea986fa0-681x851.jpg 681w\" alt=\"\" width=\"960\" height=\"1200\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-7\"><\/div>\n<p>The expression is:<\/p>\n<div data-cptid=\"1502303_teachmelife.net_300x600_1\">\n<div id=\"1502303_teachmelife.net_300x600_1\" data-gninstavoid=\"\"><iframe id=\"gnpbad_1502303\" width=\"300\" height=\"600\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" data-aladdin-format=\"true\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>15 \u00d7 3 + 15 \u00f7 3<\/p>\n<p>The first thing to remember is that math problems usually follow a specific order of operations.<\/p>\n<p>You cannot simply work from left to right and do every operation as you see it.<\/p>\n<div data-cptid=\"1502301_teachmelife.net_300x250_2\">\n<div id=\"1502301_teachmelife.net_300x250_2\" data-gninstavoid=\"\"><iframe id=\"gnpbad_1502301\" width=\"336\" height=\"280\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" data-aladdin-format=\"true\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Multiplication and division have priority over addition and subtraction.<\/p>\n<p>So, in this problem, we need to handle the multiplication and division first.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s start with 15 \u00d7 3.<\/p>\n<p>That gives us 45.<\/p>\n<p>Now look at the second part: 15 \u00f7 3.<\/p>\n<p>That gives us 5.<\/p>\n<p>So the original expression can now be rewritten as:<\/p>\n<p>45 + 5<\/p>\n<p>And that is much easier to calculate.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The final result is 50.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>So the correct answer is 50, not 25.<\/p>\n<p>But why might someone get 25?<\/p>\n<p>One common mistake is to focus on the numbers without following the correct order of operations.<\/p>\n<p>Another mistake is to assume that the puzzle must contain a complicated trick simply because it says the answer is not 25.<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes, the wording is there just to make you second-guess yourself.<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-12\">\n<div id=\"238613589\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>You might also be tempted to combine the two 15s first because they appear next to each other in the expression.<\/p>\n<p>However, there is no operation telling you to add those numbers before dealing with multiplication and division.<\/p>\n<p>The symbols matter just as much as the numbers.<\/p>\n<p>The \u00d7 and \u00f7 signs must be handled before the + sign.<\/p>\n<p>There is also an important rule when multiplication and division appear together.<\/p>\n<p>They have the same priority, so you normally work from left to right.<\/p>\n<p>In this particular puzzle, that detail does not cause any extra confusion because the multiplication appears before the division.<\/p>\n<p>First, 15 \u00d7 3 = 45.<\/p>\n<p>Then, 15 \u00f7 3 = 5.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, add the two results together.<\/p>\n<p>45 + 5 = 50.<\/p>\n<p>So if you chose 50, you followed the correct mathematical rules.<\/p>\n<p>If you got 25, don\u2019t worry.<\/p>\n<p>This is exactly the kind of simple-looking puzzle that can make your brain rush ahead before checking the signs.<\/p>\n<p>That is why slowing down is often the best strategy with these little math challenges.<\/p>\n<p>Read every symbol carefully.<\/p>\n<p>Follow the order of operations.<\/p>\n<p>Then calculate each part one step at a time.<\/p>\n<p>There is no need for a secret formula or a complicated trick here.<\/p>\n<p>The puzzle is simply testing whether you notice that multiplication and division come before addition.<\/p>\n<p>And that brings us to the final answer.<\/p>\n<p>15 \u00d7 3 + 15 \u00f7 3 = 45 + 5 = 50.<\/p>\n<h2>The answer is 50.<\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>At first glance, this math puzzle looks almost too easy. You see the statement \u201cAnswer is NOT 25\u201d and then one simple expression underneath it. <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/thepatswalk.com\/?p=21263\" title=\"Can You Solve This Math Trick?\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21264,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepatswalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepatswalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepatswalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepatswalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepatswalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21263"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thepatswalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21263\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21265,"href":"https:\/\/thepatswalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21263\/revisions\/21265"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepatswalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/21264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepatswalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepatswalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepatswalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}