This August 25th, challenge yourself with a handwritten math equation from the file image_29.png that has been causing a massive debate on social media! It comes with a strict warning right at the top: “Don’t answer too fast!” It looks exactly like a problem you would have easily solved in grade school, but it is tricking a surprising number of older adults today.
The image asks you to solve: 8 + 8 ÷ 1 × 0 + 2.
What makes this puzzle so tricky is our natural instinct to read and calculate straight from left to right. If you do that, you might add 8 and 8 to get 16, divide by 1 to stay at 16, multiply by 0 to get 0, and add the final 2 to end up with a completely incorrect 2! That × 0 in the middle of the problem is a classic trap.
To get the right answer, you absolutely must remember the golden rule of math: the order of operations. This rule dictates that multiplication and division must always be completed before addition and subtraction, working from left to right.
So, your very first step is to tackle the division and multiplication section. First, handle the division: 8 ÷ 1 gives you 8. Next, multiply that result: 8 × 0 simply gives you 0.
When you drop that zero back into the problem, the equation becomes incredibly easy: 8 + 0 + 2.
Now you can just add the numbers together from left to right. 8 plus 0 is still 8, and adding the final 2 brings you directly to your correct solution.
Answer: 10.
