21 August 2023 , 14:37
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Let's face it, some of us aren't naturally gifted when it comes to maths, which can make it tricky to help our children with their homework as we can't work out the complicated sums ourselves. And there's one tricky question that's been leaving many parents completely stumped, even though it's supposed to be easy enough for 10-year-olds to solve.
Sky News presenter Anna Botting took to Twitter earlier this year to share a question from her daughter's maths homework that she had been unable to solve, and many others who tried to work it out were left with a headache too. In fact, Anna even used the baffling question to highlight the fact that maths isn't for everyone, as she slammed plans announced by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in January to make the subject compulsory in schools until the age of 18.
The question was designed for 10-year-olds (annabotting/Twitter)Posting on Twitter back in February, she said: "So maths to 18 for schoolchildren is Rishi Sunak’s plan. But, genuinely, maths is hard for some of us… This [pointing thumb emoji] my 10-year-old daughter's maths homework, had me stumped."
The problem in question reads as follows: "At the beginning of the day, Hasim counted his money. 'He gave his brother 1/3 of his money. He spent £12 on a present for his sister. He then counted what he had left, and it was half what he had at the beginning of the day. How much money did he give his brother? Show your method."
A number of Anna's followers set about trying to solve the problem themselves, with many full-grown adults admitting they'd found it anything but easy. One person gasped: "That's a 10-year-old’s? That's very difficult for Year 5! I think Grade 6 at GCSE would struggle with that one."
Parents stumped by maths question for 10-year-olds - see if you can solve it
Another remarked: "I'm 38 and the way I worked it out was to look in the comments and see what answers other people had because I didn’t have a clue where to even start?!, while a third person commented: "As a teacher, I can't honestly see the point of these highly convoluted maths problems, they just heighten anxiety, feelings of frustration and failure, and let's be honest are no practical use whatsoever. Maths to 18 won't make a jot of difference, critical thinking skills will!"
After leaving her followers to puzzle it out for a while in her replies, with varying results, Anna shared the answer, which had been "kindly jotted down by daughter's teacher in classroom". She wrote: "To all who said 24 [tick emjoi] And 72 - read the Q."
So, if Hasim gave his brother 1/3 of the money, spent £12, and still has half of his money left, then: 12 = (1/6)x. You'll then need to resolve x: x = 72. 72/3 = £24, meaning this is the amount he gave his brother. Did you manage to figure it out?