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Parents are left scratching their heads over a ‘simple’ math problem on a 10 year old’s homework. Can you figure it out?
- Parents are confused by a child’s math problem at homework
- The question asked to divide 934 ‘equally’ by four
- Many guessed what the solution was but the question remained unresolved
Parents are baffled by a seemingly simple math question on an elementary school student’s homework.
One mother shared the confusing question in a to post to a popular Facebook group after she couldn’t figure it out on her own.
The Year Five worksheet asks students to divide 934 children ‘evenly’ into four teams, but hundreds were stumped because the number is not divisible by four.
The members shared their various theories, but in the end it was agreed that the contradictory question was poorly worded and could not be resolved.
Parents scratch their heads over a confusing question in a 10-year-old’s math homework book
‘Nine hundred and thirty-four children were evenly divided among four teams. How many children were on each team?’ the question is read.
‘Complete the partial full model to show your exercise. You may not need to use all the parts.
The ten-year-old’s mother shared the math problem online saying: ‘It’s not me, is it? 934/4 doesn’t work the same?!’ attracting hundreds of responses.
Most agreed that the questions were flawed since 934 cannot be divided into four equally, however some noted that it states that “not all parts” should be used.
People shared their various theories, but in the end it was agreed that the conflicting question was poorly worded and could not be resolved (file image)
‘233.5, erm, who are you cutting in half?’ one woman joked while another said: “There must be a typo here.”
“It does say that you may not need to use all of the parts, so 934/2 = 467,” a third guessed.
“It’s 934 in the top ‘full’ circle and then 467 in two of the ‘partial’ circles,” a fourth responded.
Some people pointed out that the question refers to the graph as a “part-whole model”, which is a diagram used to show the components of a number.
One responded with a drawn diagram of the model with 934 in the top circle and 900, 30 and four in the sections below.
However, the theory was quickly shut down when people pointed out that the question specifically asks for four equal teams.
“Having googled it, this is the craziest math for elementary school.” Sorry I can’t help,’ one parent replied.
One mom had a plausible theory that said: ‘Maybe if you use the 900 and the four from the part-whole diagram and make 904 divided by 4 = 226… So I didn’t use all the parts leaving the 30 out.’
The mother eventually closed comments on the post, saying she put a note on the boy’s homework saying the equation couldn’t be solved.