Puzzles

Can You Solve The e=8 MIT Admissions Math Problem?

News: The Curiosity Podcast is here! Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play Music, SoundCloud and RSS.

How well do you know PEMDAS or BODMAS? Order-of-operations problems seem to really frustrate the people of the internet, but this one from the MindYourDecisions YouTube channel may be the hardest one we've seen. According to the channel, this problem appeared in an admissions text for MIT in 1869. Scroll down to read the problem, and keep scrolling to read the answer. Good luck!

Advertisement

Here's The Problem

Let e=8 in the following equation:

e - {√(e + 1) + 2} + (e - ³√e) √(e - 4).

What's the numerical value of the equation?

Hint: As mentioned earlier, knowledge of the order of operations will be pretty important here. Scroll down to read the answer.

Love getting smarter? Sign up to our newsletter and get our best content in your inbox!

The 1869 MIT Admissions Order Of Operations Question

Here's The Answer

In this equation where e=8, the numerical value is 15. Did you get it? Watch the video above to see exactly how it's solved.

Watch And Learn: More Order Of Operations Problems To Challenge You

What is 6÷2(1+2) = ? The Correct Answer Explained

Get the correct answer arrow_forward

Get the correct answer to this viral problem arrow_forward

Advertisement