Primary school maths question leaves adults completely stumped

A primary school maths question aimed at 10-year-olds has left adults scratching their heads.

The difficult challenge was shared on a popular Reddit thread after one sibling was left stumped by his younger brother's homework.

"A test problem on my 5th-grade brother's math exam," the poster wrote.

The question asked students to figure out how many pages are in a book.

The question, meant for kids aged between the ages of 10 and 11, read: "Klein read 30 pages of a book on Monday and 1/8 of the book on Tuesday. He completed the remaining 1/4 of the book on Wednesday. How many pages are there in the book?"

Redditors were left confused by the equation and were quick to comment how they'd fail "5th-grade maths", with one saying: "I always think to myself; ‘Ugh. People should really be tested with basic skills before they’re allowed to go out into society’.

"And then I see this and realise I shouldn’t go out into society."

A second wrote: "And now we can see why Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader worked as a TV show!"

Another added: "Am I the only one who thinks OP [Original Poster] is a 5th grader posting his homework to Reddit so people respond with the answer?"

Meanwhile, one Redditor joked: "My only issue is that it presumes the book was started on Monday. For all we know, lil Klein has been working on War and Peace for 6 months and finally cranked out the last half in 2 days just in time for the final."

u/springwaterh20/Reddit

The answer? Eight times six. The book has 48 pages.

Redditor 'NorthernSparrow' explained: "The key to solving the problem is realizing that, given the fractions, our reader read exactly five-eighths of the book on Monday".

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