A Math Problem From School That Surprisingly Stumps Many Adults: Can You Solve It Without Using a Calculator?

Try solving this math challenge without using a calculator.

The problem below is a classic brain teaser similar to the kinds of equations many of us learned in elementary school.

To get the correct answer, you need to remember the proper order of operations, which can be trickier than it sounds after so many years.

Here’s the challenge. Can you work it out on your own?

Did you solve it yet? If not, the answer is revealed below after the picture.

A

B

C

Here’s the solution.

The correct answer is 288. Let’s break it down step by step to see why.

First, solve the expression inside the parentheses:

9 + 3 = 12

That changes the equation to:

48 ÷ 2 (12)

Next, remove the parentheses, which turns the expression into multiplication:

48 ÷ 2 × 12

Now solve the equation from left to right:

24 × 12 = 288

Understanding the order of operations is the key to solving this problem correctly. It’s one of the first math rules we learn in school.

Did you get the right answer? If you did, nicely done!