Second grade math question has the internet fighting over the answer
(WTAJ) — It’s not the first time internet users were at odds with each other and it sure won’t be the last — this time an alleged second-grade math question has the internet fighting over an answer.
A mother posted what she said was her child’s second-grade math homework. Here’s how the question goes: “There are 49 dogs signed up to compete in a dog show. There are 36 more small dogs than large dogs signed up to compete. How many small dogs are signed up to compete?”
Comments came in blazing from simple answers to others using more complex algebra, which a second-grader would never understand. The algebra had people questioning how legitimate it is that this was the homework of a 7-year-old.
While some chimed in that this is more of a reading comprehension question, others said it’s impossible to answer because “you can’t have half of a dog.”
“… and what breed of dog is 0.5 small and 0.5 large?” one person commented on a Facebook post.
The answer does actually lie in a fraction.
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The WTAJ digital team took a crack at it, with their own Olivia Bosar determined the following:
“You first subtract the 36 to group them as small dogs since you need at least 36 small dogs. You then divide the remaining 13 into two categories: large dogs and small dogs. But you have to divide them in a way that would give you the ability to create a class that’s X and a class that’s X+36. It’s not possible in this equation because 13 is a prime number.”
As a prime number, once you try to divide 13, you end up with a .5 in your answer, and, well, obviously, you can’t have half of a dog.
What do you think the answer is? Could you help your child if they came home with a homework assignment like this?
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