Anyone smarter than me help with this maths question?

[Participant]

We need Rachel Riley. And perhaps while she's here she can help us solve this maths problem.

 

[Cadder]

It's just question e

Question e? Or question d?

 

[jpaul]

gratuitous exponentiation ?

6^2 - 5^2 - 4 - 3

( .... is this part of that yearly MI5 entrance test )

 

[touch]

6-5-(4-3)=4()

 

[Hawk Tuah]

Question e? Or question d?

Oops. Yes I mean d.

 

[builder22]

The only way I get 4 from 6, 5, 4,3 is :

6+5 = 11
-4-3 = -7
11-7 = 4

no way - despite reading over it many times and reading all the replies I've read all the minuses as plus signs...is this some optical illusion thing?

(6-5)-(4-3)?

Edit no that's not right oops . You sure the questions right?

read that as (6+5)-(4+3) every time I looked at it too...then wondered what the problem was

 

[Hawk Tuah]

6-5-(4-3)=4()

If it is that, that's terrible. Maths solver comes up with an error if you don't specify the actual 0.

Error: Cannot parse
6-5-(4-3)=4()

 

[touch]

If it is that, that's terrible. Maths solver comes up with an error if you don't specify the actual 0.

That won't be the right answer, but I think it's technically correct.

 

[Chris Wilson]

Kwasi could make it give any answer you desired, e-mail him....

So could Diane Abbott.

 

[Hawk Tuah]

That won't be the right answer, but I think it's technically correct.

Absolutely. We've put that in the homework book.

 

[Mel_P]

At least putting the following in Wolfram Alpha gives 4

6(-)5-(4-3)=4

Yes, that's cheating, but I suspect the question is broken.. surely you should get merit marks for bucking the system

Isn't 6(-)5 equal to 6*-5 = -30 ?

 

[jsmoke]

Can you take the 4 from the right side over to the left side?

 

[Mel_P]

Can you take the 4 from the right side over to the left side?

Yes - if you change the sign - so why?

 

[Hawk Tuah]

Can you take the 4 from the right side over to the left side?

You can, but you can't leave it there as well. The question is to make it work by just adding brackets.

 

[dowie]

Can you take a photo of the question sheet/section of the textbook or whatever on your phone and post pls? (upload to imgur)

At face value, this question seems retarded.

 

[Surveyor]

Can you take a photo of the question sheet/section of the textbook or whatever on your phone and post pls? (upload to imgur)

It's just question d. He's already got all the rest.

 

[scarps]

Can you solve this by just adding brackets?

6-5-4-3=4.

Honestly, it's bad when I can't even help my 11 year old with his homework.

Just tell him to put. 4 is the wrong answer. should be -6

Oh, I got question e right before seeing it

 

[Psiko]

There's only 4 possibilities (unless you think it's a trick question and you're supposed to do silly things with the brackets but that's unlikely). No amount of brackets can change the 6-5 (=1) but you can flip the signs of the 4 and the 3.

This leaves:
1-4-3=-6
1+4-3=2
1-4+3=0
1+4+3=8

So it's probably a mistake by the teacher and they meant =8, not =4.

 

[Philtor]

Can you solve this by just adding brackets?

6-5-4-3=4.

Honestly, it's bad when I can't even help my 11 year old with his homework.

I was going to say a mathematician will figure this out, but they expect an 11 year old to do this?

Just say no brackets are required. The numbers look level enough? He will be top of the class.

 

[Hawk Tuah]

I was going to say a mathematician will figure this out, but they expect an 11 year old to do this?

Just say no brackets are required. The numbers look level enough? He will be top of the class.

He's got the answer provided by touch written down, which resolves both sides of the equation to 0.

If another kid comes up with a better answer I'll let you all know.