A new challenge has been making the rounds online, and while it’s nothing groundbreaking, it taps into something we haven’t all thought about in a while—good old-school math. These puzzles are fun because they push you to dig up rules you last saw scribbled across a chalkboard years ago. They also bring out that competitive spark—can you solve it without grabbing a calculator?
Here’s the riddle:
6 – 1 × 0 + 3 ÷ 3
At first glance, it seems simple. But the key is remembering the order of operations. This is where the classic PEMDAS rule comes in—Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication and Division (from left to right), then Addition and Subtraction (also left to right).
Let’s break it down:
6 – 1 × 0 + 3 ÷ 3
= 6 – (1×0) + (3÷3)
= 6 – 0 + 1
= 7
So the correct answer is 7.
Many people get tripped up because they rush through the steps or forget the proper sequence. But if you applied PEMDAS correctly and landed on 7—congratulations! Sometimes the simplest problems are the ones that test our focus the most.