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Home » Brainteaser: Can you solve this ‘simple’ algebra equation? It’s fun!
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Brainteaser: Can you solve this ‘simple’ algebra equation? It’s fun!

S-Davies Wande
September 7, 2016
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This is interesting! Internet users are now being baffled by a new mind-boggling riddle following the extent to which this brainteasers have been sweeping the web.

This puzzle involves working out the values of three symbols – a horse, a horseshoe and a cowboy boot.

It sounds simple enough, but the infuriatingly hard-to-grasp solution has foxed plenty of those trying to complete it.

It’s already garnered over 500,000 comments and 13,500 shares since it was posted on Facebook.

The puzzle consists of four questions, the first three have which have already been answered.

The final question requires you to add the cowboy boot and the horse and multiply by the horseshoe to come up with the corresponding numerical value.

Answers left in the comments section have varied wildly, ranging from 12 to 48.

But, despite initial appearances, the true answer is 21.

The first question, involving three horses adding up to 30, tells us that the value of a horse is 10.

The second equation, featuring two horseshoes and a horse, allows us to deduce the value of the horseshoe is 4.

The third equation tells us that the value of a cowboy boot is 2.

Now, the final question is asking the solution to 10 + 2 x 4.

This has understandably led many people to guess the answer as 48.

However, due to the BODMAS rule – which dictates the order of operations in working out maths solutions – you should actually be multiplying the horse by the horseshoe first, then adding the cowboy boot next.So that means the answer is 1 + (10×2) = 21.

Despite this, many people with opposing views are adamant they have solved the puzzle – while others continue to insist it can ‘never’ be solved.


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