By: Thinking Humanity  Mathematics can be difficult, some times confusing, but we should be able to figure out the answer to a basic equation like this one. Well, it turns out that there’s a lot of conflict on the internet about the correct answer. I am sure that all the mathematicians around the world are not happy with those who didn’t answer correctly.

Of course, there is only one correct answer!

For those who experience a mathematical anxiety that is like a math-induced phobia, take a deep breath before you try to solve this equation. The obviously easy equation below has accomplished to bring a conflict, and social media users are divided over what the correct answer is. Take a moment to challenge it yourself and see what result you end up with:

6 ÷ 2(1+2) = ?

The large majority of the people who tried to solve it ended up with an answer of either 1 or 9. Some even concluded to 0, 3, or even 6 and those are way off! Nevertheless, the reason why 9 and 1 are given as the main answers for this problem comes down to how people think of solving it. However, a single answer is correct, and that is 9, and if you are right, congratulations, equation solved!

So why and how has this equation caused so much difficulty and has managed to go viral!? Presh Talwalkar, the creator of the YouTube channel MindYourDecisions has posted an explanation. According to him, there is an ‘old’ way and a ‘new’ way to solve the problem. Depending on which way you use, you will end up with either 1 doing it the ‘old way’, or 9 doing it the ‘modern way’. Check out his video and his explanation of each step and find out if you agree with what’s being said.

To conclude, there’s only one way, and that is the correct way!

If you completely messed up the answer or failed to come up with the right solution, don’t be too hard on yourself. Other than plain addition and subtraction, most of us don’t do any complicated math once we have finished school. We usually use a calculator or simply Google the result. Maybe, it is time to revise some mathematics! 😉