A Simple Math Problem Miraculously Goes Viral Online: 1.49 Million Netizens Worldwide Got It Wrong, Can You Give It a Try?
A seemingly simple and unremarkable math problem created a sensation on Facebook—one of the world's largest social networking sites—as 1.49 million netizens worldwide got it wrong! After entering May, this miraculous math problem began to go viral on major domestic websites in China. What about this problem: 6÷2(1+2)=? How should it be solved? What’s the answer? Netizens were quick to offer their answers—1 and 9 became the most popular responses. The reporter consulted with a mathematics postgraduate student from Sichuan University and a well-known elementary school math teacher, both of whom believed that the problem itself was not a rigorous mathematical question.