This handwritten math equation has been causing a massive debate on social media! It looks exactly like a problem you would have easily solved in grade school, but it is tricking a surprising number of adults today.
The image asks you to solve: 18 + 2 × 0 + 4.
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 18 and 2 to get 20, then multiply by 0 to get 0, and quickly find yourself completely off track! That × 0 in the middle of the problem is a classic trap.
To get the right answer, you have to remember the golden rule of math: the order of operations. This rule states that multiplication and division must always be completed before addition and subtraction.
So, your very first step is to tackle the multiplication section. 2 × 0 simply gives you 0.
When you drop that zero back into the problem, the equation becomes incredibly easy: 18 + 0 + 4.
Now you can just add the numbers together from left to right. 18 plus 0 is still 18, and adding the final 4 brings you directly to your solution.
Answer: 22.
