[Jonathan Leane]

Mum shares son’s maths question that’s stumped the internet​

From Rebecca Flood of The Sun:

A mum has asked for help over her seven-year-old son’s maths homework after it completely baffled her — and a professor who has a PhD in maths.
The woman shared a snap of her seven-year-old’s schoolwork to a popular Facebook group dedicated to lockdown tips, after it left her scratching her head.

In the post, the mum said the homework has never been that hard before, which is why she turned to the internet for help, The Sun reports.

Alongside a snap of the problem, she wrote: “I hate homework. Please help!”

The tricky question is as follows: “Karla says: “I have three hundreds counters, 17 tens counters and 16 ones counters.

“a) Can she make two equal three-digit numbers? If so, draw the counters to show them.

“b) Can she make two equal three-digit numbers if she had to use all her counters? If so, draw the counters to show them.”

Can anyone figure this out? I never was any good at maths

 

[Placid]

Well, I dunno, it looks pretty simple to me.
The one answer can suit both A and B.
Call them bundle 1 and bundle 2.
Bundle 1 can have 2 x 100, 4 x 10 and 3 x 1 for a total of 243.
The leftovers, or Bundle 2 would consist of 1 x 100, 13 x 10 and 13 x 1, again totaling 243.
Nothing hard about that.

 

[Vinylted]

I waited for Placid he's good at these...

 

[Dot]

Double dutch to this old chick......when I went to school it was straightforward not the rubbish they come up with now.

 

[David]

I agree with Dot, although I hesitate to use the word ‘rubbish’ as there are no doubt smart people who make up the curriculum’s in use today. I still don’t understand the question, let alone the answer.

 

[alistairL]

I got the same as Placid

 

[Mumma Bear]

a and b) She has 486 counters so divide that by 2 and you get 243 (243 +243 = 286) It would be difficult to draw all those counters though!

 

[Vinylted]

Actually there are only 36 individual counters, so not so difficult.

 

[Placid]

Actually there are only 36 individual counters, so not so difficult.

Exactly, Ted, she has 36 counters.

Three of them are valued at 100 each.

Seventeen are valued at 10 each.

The other 16 are valued at 1 each.

For the sake of the exercise, let’s use Roman Numerals.

We know 100 = C, 10 = X and 1 = I

She could draw her bundles like this;

Bundle 1… C+C+X+X+X+X+I+I+I to equal 243

Bundle 2… C+X+X+X+X+X+X+X+X+X+X+X+X+X+I+I+I+I+I+I+I+I+I+I+I+I+I to equal 243

 

[Blossom]

I waited for Placid he's good at these...

what Vinylted said...