Children’s maths question that seems simple is leaving people stumped

A tricky maths exam question aimed at kids has gone viral after perplexing thousands of people on Twitter.

The challenging problem was posted by @yawdmontweet, from Jamaica, who said the question ‘hurt his head.’

The question, which racked up 1.4 million views, asked: ‘What is the closest time to midnight?’, and it offered a multiple choice answer of A. 11:55 am, B. 12:06 am, 11:50 am, and D 12:03 am.’

Scores of social media users appeared to be confused by the question as many rushed to the comments with different answers. 

Some people claimed the answer was ‘D’ because that’s only three minutes away from midnight.

However others interpreted the question differently and said it is ‘A’ because that’s the nearest to midnight without going back in time. 

One person said: ‘Clearly a lot of children have been left behind. The answer is D!!! ‘To’ just means closest to the time itself, not insinuating that it’s necessarily before midnight.’

Another agreed saying: ‘The question speaks to proximity and not chronology, so the answer is D.’

While someone else said: ‘I don’t even understand why this is causing confusion. The answer is D! 3 minutes after midnight is the closest time to midnight. #Simple’

A fourth agreed saying: ‘Option D is 3 minutes away from midnight. All the options provided were in the morning and if listed in chronological order, the closest to midnight is D. We will have to agree to disagree on this one as no other reason makes sense to me.’

Those who chose D were correct, because 12.03am is three minutes past midnight, while 11.55am is 12 hours and 5 minutes before; 12.06 am is six minutes past and 11.50 am is 12 hours and 10 minutes before.

But others insisted the answer was A with one person saying: ‘A is the answer because it’s 5 mins away from midnight. 12:03am is 23 hours and 57 mins away from midnight.’

Some people claimed the answer was ‘D’ because that’s only three minutes away from midnight

However others said it is ‘A’ because that’s the nearest to midnight without going back in time

Another said: ‘The answer is A. 11:55am (is 12 hours, and 5 minutes) away from midnight (12am). B is 23 hours and 54 minutes away, C is 12 hours and 10 minutes away and D is 23 hours and 57 minutes from midnight.’

While a third wrote: ‘It says closest ‘To’ midnight. And not ‘From’ Midnight. Stop over complicating everything lol. Answer is A.’

However, this logic is totally flawed because 11.55am is in the morning and not close to midnight at all.  

People chimed in on why they think the maths questions is confusing with some revealing it’s to do with the wording.

One person said: ‘I think the wording is causing confusion. ‘TO’ midnight and ‘Pass’ midnight are 2 different things when it comes to time.’ 

Another said: ‘Without more information it’s hard to choose the answer. We say time in a clockwise manner which would make A the closest if we are talking about the next midnight. However, it did not state which midnight this D it closest.’ 

While another said: ‘This isn’t hard guys. It’s clearly only one answer. Two of them are close to midday not midnight…’