Rant #1,908: X Divided By X

Happy Monday (not really)!

Last week was a pretty slow week, wasn't it?

And this slowness was shown on the Internet.

This famous math problem from a few years ago reared its ugly head once again, and once again, I don't get what the problem with this thing is.

Here it is, and I will give you a moment to get the answer:

6/2(1+2)=?

I got the correct answer right away, but I wonder if you did?

This is confounding so many people, both when it was first posted and now, when it was posted again, that it has become something of a viral "sensation", for people who look for such senations.

And again, I don't get it.

Let me tell you how I arrived at the answer.

First do the "6 divided by 2" part of the equation.

The answer is 3.

Put that number on the side for a moment.

Then do the second part of the equation.

(1+2) equals 3.

Then bring back the original number 3 that you came up with, so the equation now reads like this:
3(3)=?

Multiply the 3 times 3, and what do you come up with?

You come up with 9, and thus, 6/2(1+2)=9.

I have read that many people have come up with the number 1 for the answer, and I simply cannot figure that out.

You have to figure this out as a multi-part equation to fully get this, which I think is confounding some people, leading to the incorrect answer.

Take it step by step, and you will see how relatively easy it is to get the answer.

This is not Abbott and Costello's famous "13 x 7=28" routine.

Nor is this brain surgery. Any kid who has taken even basic math should be able to get this.

Why us older folks are having such a tough time is anyone's guess.

I don't even have one of my flip end sentences for this Rant, because I just cannot believe that people are having trouble understanding this and coming to the correct answer.

It's all in the numbers.