“Your brain is not naturally logical.” That’s what the evaluator of my aptitude test told me. Apparently, my brain processes things randomly rather than in order. She went on to tell me that I have compensated for that and have learned how to put things in logical order, but it takes me longer. All of sudden a bunch of things became clear, like why I bombed the LSAT exam and why I have struggled in math.
Despite struggling, I am glad I devoted the amount of time I did to learning math and training my brain how to do something that wasn’t natural. Regardless of whether you kids have a natural aptitude towards math, these math brain teasers are fun and challenging. They will make your child’s brain sharper. You may even find some that challenge you!
1. How can you add 3 to 10 and get 1 as your answer?
2. 561 = 6
782 = 9
421 = 5
875 = 13
231 = ?
3. How many times does the digit 5 appear in the numbers from 1-100?
4. In 2007, a person is 20 years old. In 2020, that same person is 7 years old. How is that possible?
5. A + B + C = A x B x C What are the values of A, B, and C?
6. You have 2 U.S. coins that add up to 11 cents. One of the coins is not a penny. What are the two coins?
7. What weighs more: 16 ounces of water or a one pound rock?
8. A grandfather, two dads, and two sons in the same family line bought tickets to a baseball game. How many tickets did they buy?
9. What number is LII?
10. If you multiply any number by X the answer will always be the same. What number is X?
11. If you are 7 and your dad is 36, what age will you be when he is exactly double your age?
12. Two of the exact same dogs weigh 100 pounds total. One of those dogs and two of the exact same cats weigh 110 pounds total. If one of those dogs, one of those cats, and a squirrel weigh 90 pounds total, how much does the squirrel weigh?
13. 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, ?
14. How many inches are there in two yards?
15. A farmer has 15 cows. All but 6 die. How many cows does the farmer have left?
Answers
1. The subject is a clock. When you add 3 hours to 10 o’clock you get 1 o’clock.
2. The formula is ABC (A+B+C-B). So the answer is 3.
3. The answer is 20. 5, 15, 25, 35, 45, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 65, 75, 85, 95
4. It’s 2007 and 2020 B.C.
5. A = 1, B = 2, C = 3
6. A dime and a penny. One is not a penny – the dime!
7. They weigh the same.
8. The answer is 3.
9. 52 – Roman numerals.
10. The answer is zero.
11. Answer: You will be 29 years old. Explanation: Take 36-7 = 29.
12. Answer: 10 pounds
Explanation: Dogs weigh 50 pounds and the cats weigh 30 pounds
Dogs: 2D = 100. D = 100/2. D = 50
Cats: 50 + 2C = 110. C = 110-50/2. C = 60/2. C = 30
Squirrel: 50 + 30 + S = 90. S = 90 – 50 – 30. S = 10
13. The answer is 32.
14. The answer is 72.
15. The answer is 6.
Sound off: Do you have a good math brain teaser to share?
