Facebook fruit and maths puzzle tricks adults into arguing about algebra
It poses as a question of maths, but really it's more about how good your eye for bananas is
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A puzzle asking people to work out the value of an apple, a banana and half a coconut has driven social media friends apart.
The puzzle looks simple: it just asks people to do some obvious algebra, with fruit as the values. But it has another twist and is leading people to fall out.
It is being widely shared as an example of how simple arithmetic and algebra can get forgotten by adults. But the difficulty is actually one of perception.
Working out the values of each of the fruits is relatively simple: an apple is worth 10, an individual banana is worth one each, and a half coconut is worth one. The questions marks at the end represent 14, when you add everything up.
But what makes the question far more difficult is the fact that the puzzle tricks you into seeing things that aren’t there. Many people don’t notice that one of the coconut halves has gone missing in the final line, and that one of the bananas is no longer there.
That means that many people will end up with answers like 16 — or something else entirely.
As such, not getting the puzzle correct isn’t an example of the fact that you have lost the ability to do basic maths, and getting it right doesn’t show that you’re a genius — the claims often made on Facebook.
Instead, those that get it right are likely to have sharper eyes, which might explain why people claim that children are better at seeing it.
They’re also more likely to be looking at the pictures rather than attempting to understand what they represent, which means that people who are less engaged with the problem might actually be better at solving it.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments