This is the Chinese math problem for fifth graders. Even adults have a problem with it

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Mathematics is usually one of the least liked subjects. Many students have a problem with it, no matter what class they are in. Some lessons can be quite a challenge for adults as well. A perfect example is a task from a Chinese textbook for gifted fifth graders.

A seemingly simple task creates huge problems. How does it sound?

At first, for fifth graders, it may seem trivial. Calculate the height of the table. Two figures are attached to the text. One of them shows a cat sitting on a tabletop. There is a turtle hiding under the furniture. In the second picture, the situation is the opposite – the amphibian is on top of the table and the furry is sitting on the ground. The illustrations also contain some information necessary to solve the task. The distance from the cat to the ground is 170 centimeters, while the distance from the turtle to the ground is 130 centimeters.

How to solve the task? You only need to do one calculation

The task is tricky. As it turns out, you don’t need to calculate the height of the animals at all to discover how tall a piece of furniture is. You can do it in a much simpler way. First of all, it should be remembered that the sizes of amphibians and mammals do not change. How to solve this math problem? Here is the correct way:

• cat + table – turtle = 170 cm
• turtle + table – cat = 130 cm
• 2 x table – 300 cm /2
• table = 150 cm

Since the height of both animals is subtracted at once, it can be completely omitted from the calculations. It remains then to add both results together (170 + 130), and then divide the result of the operation by 2. At the very end, we transfer the result to the other side of the equal sign, making it positive from negative. In this way we will find out that the table is exactly 150 centimeters high.