How old are the mother and her daughter? A math puzzle that only seems simple

For those who have successfully mastered basic arithmetic in junior high school, it may seem very simple and straightforward. But wait, there is a puzzle that will easily challenge your beliefs.

OBOZ.UA publishes a problem that has gone viral on Threads. Here are its conditions:

• Mom and daughter are 28 years old together.
• Mom is 22 years older than her daughter.
• How old is the daughter?

It's likely that you'll try to solve this puzzle by simply subtracting 22 from 28, and it will turn out that the daughter is 6 years old.

But let's check this answer. If the mother is 22 and the daughter is 6, then the age difference between them will be 16 years, and this does not meet the conditions of the problem.

So how do you solve this puzzle correctly? You need to create a simple equation, where the daughter's age is denoted by the letter X. In this case, the mother's age will be calculated as follows: 2Х+22=28. Why 2X? Because the mother's age changed in the same way as the daughter's age - they simultaneously became one year older and this period of time must be taken into account twice in the equation - both for the mother and the daughter.

And then everything is quite simple. To find 2X, you need to subtract the same 22 from 28 and get 6. And then divide it by 2. In this case, it turns out that X is 3.

Let's check this answer. If the daughter is 3 years old and the mother is 22 years older, then the mother is now 25. Add 25 and 3 and we get 28. The answer is correct.

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