Quarantine Fun: Silly Facebook Graphical Math Problems
OK, I've seen a lot of these now. And I've kept my mouth shut. But quarantine is a great time to write up a dull post about these supposed IQ tests or challenging math problems or whatever people are passing these off as.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, it is ones like this:
Which I found here. Hopefully between the watermark on the image and the link the appropriate attribution is there.
What bugged me from the very first time is that this isn't an intelligence test. It is really more of a perception test, disguised as an intelligence test, which ultimately backfires and fails to be either.
So, it is more meant to be a test of perception because, while some thinking needs to be done to arrive at the values of the symbols, the math there is basically grade school easy. The trick is, the last line where instead of 2 coconuts in the image, you actually just have one.
The test is really forcing you to focus on calculating the values in the other lines so that you don't think to carefully scrutinize the last line. It is a visual sleight of hand.
But, it ends up failing. If you notice the discrepancy at the end, then you should arrive at the conclusion that the puzzle is unsolvable.
To prove this, let's let the apple be X, the bunch of bananas be Y and the two coconuts be Z.
We get X + X + X = 30, or 3X = 30, or finally X = 10
Then 10 + Y + Y = 18, or 10 + 2Y = 18, or 2Y = 8 or finally Y=4
Then, 4 - Z = 2, or 6 - Z = 0, or finally, 6 = Z.
Most people will blindly then think the last line is 6 + 10 + 4 = 20.
But, of course, the coconut symbol we calculated is not present. A different one, with just one half is present. Leading the more perceptive to say that the answer is actually 6/2 + 10 + 4 = 17.
This however, is also wrong.
In algebra you can't just assume two different symbols have any relation to each other. This is why we tend to use alpha characters for variable names rather than pictograms. Pictograms are easier to mistake for one another, or might imply a relationship in the data which isn't necessarily real. And then, factors which might augment the value are depicted using numerical values, special characters (alpha, beta, theta, etc...) or known constants (Euler's constant), etc...
In short, the problem does not state that it is safe to assume that varying multiples of fruit in the pictogram bear any linear relationship to the value.
Of course it doesn't say this though! Pointing this out would ruin the illusory element of the trick by alerting the person being challenged to seek out places where that rule might apply.
But, incidentally it is also why this can't even be treated as a proper intelligence test. And, subsequently can't be treated as a proper perception test, because even if you notice the trick, you still can't legitimately solve the problem.
The only other way for the trick might PROPERLY obey established algebraic conventions would be if the original coconut pictogram was just a half, like the last one, but preceded by the number 2. Once again, this would turn the challenge into a straightforward math problem. Which, while this is what it is trying to disguise itself as, is not what it actually is at all.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, it is ones like this:
What bugged me from the very first time is that this isn't an intelligence test. It is really more of a perception test, disguised as an intelligence test, which ultimately backfires and fails to be either.
So, it is more meant to be a test of perception because, while some thinking needs to be done to arrive at the values of the symbols, the math there is basically grade school easy. The trick is, the last line where instead of 2 coconuts in the image, you actually just have one.
The test is really forcing you to focus on calculating the values in the other lines so that you don't think to carefully scrutinize the last line. It is a visual sleight of hand.
But, it ends up failing. If you notice the discrepancy at the end, then you should arrive at the conclusion that the puzzle is unsolvable.
To prove this, let's let the apple be X, the bunch of bananas be Y and the two coconuts be Z.
We get X + X + X = 30, or 3X = 30, or finally X = 10
Then 10 + Y + Y = 18, or 10 + 2Y = 18, or 2Y = 8 or finally Y=4
Then, 4 - Z = 2, or 6 - Z = 0, or finally, 6 = Z.
Most people will blindly then think the last line is 6 + 10 + 4 = 20.
But, of course, the coconut symbol we calculated is not present. A different one, with just one half is present. Leading the more perceptive to say that the answer is actually 6/2 + 10 + 4 = 17.
This however, is also wrong.
In algebra you can't just assume two different symbols have any relation to each other. This is why we tend to use alpha characters for variable names rather than pictograms. Pictograms are easier to mistake for one another, or might imply a relationship in the data which isn't necessarily real. And then, factors which might augment the value are depicted using numerical values, special characters (alpha, beta, theta, etc...) or known constants (Euler's constant), etc...
In short, the problem does not state that it is safe to assume that varying multiples of fruit in the pictogram bear any linear relationship to the value.
Of course it doesn't say this though! Pointing this out would ruin the illusory element of the trick by alerting the person being challenged to seek out places where that rule might apply.
But, incidentally it is also why this can't even be treated as a proper intelligence test. And, subsequently can't be treated as a proper perception test, because even if you notice the trick, you still can't legitimately solve the problem.
The only other way for the trick might PROPERLY obey established algebraic conventions would be if the original coconut pictogram was just a half, like the last one, but preceded by the number 2. Once again, this would turn the challenge into a straightforward math problem. Which, while this is what it is trying to disguise itself as, is not what it actually is at all.
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