16 September 2023 , 13:58
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Many parents are happy to help when their child comes home with school homework, whether its a spelling test or a tricky maths question - it usually can be figured out in the end. But one simple maths question has stumped students and parents alone.
School may have felt like a long time a go for many, but even the brainiest of families have been left scratching their heads at what seems like a relatively simple maths question to do with a real life situation. Thousands of people have been left second guessing their decision and wondering if it really is that obvious.
The multiple choice question which was posted by @yawdmontweet on X, formally known as Twitter, read: "What is the closest time to midnight?" and was followed by four answers to choose from, "A. 11:55 am, B. 12:06 am, C. 11:50 am and D. 12:03am" and many people came to the conclusion D was the correct answer.
Although it didn't take long for them to start second guessing their answer. Some people think it is D, as it's just three minutes since midnight struck, however others interpreted it in a completely different way. Some people opted for answer A, as 11:55 was the closest to midnight - (12 hours and 5 minutes) without going back in time, only forwards.
It created a huge debate with many people disagreeing on what was right. "It says closest 'to' midnight and not 'from' midnight. Stop over-complicating everything. Answer is A," one person commented, whereas another argued, "The answer is D. None of those 11:00am times falls in the night," whilst one person tried to analyse the wording and said: "The question speaks to proximity and not chronology, so the answer is D."
'I don't want children staying up late at weekends - I really need adult time'
If this has left you wanting to solve more, why not see if you can answer this tricky question, which was intended for 10 to 11 year olds, which recently resurfaced on Reddit, as it asked students to find out exactly how many pages there were in a book. It might seem like a very simple mathematical equation - but only the most intelligent and logical were able to answer it.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments