這難倒一片網民的數學題：其實是考驗眼力

這難倒一片網民的數學題：其實是考驗眼力

The Seemingly Simple Maths Puzzle That Left the Internet Baffled

It was the seemingly simple maths puzzle that left the Internet baffl ed. The equation， which uses flowers instead of numbers， went viral①viral 英 ［'va?r（?）l］ 美 ［'va?r?l］ adj. 病毒性的with thousands of Facebook users debating the correct answer.

Daily Mail Australia p u t it to Associate Professor Leon Poladian， from the University of Sydney's mathematics②mathematics 英 ［m?θ（?）'m?t?ks］ 美 ［，m?θ?'m?t?ks］n. 數學；數學運算department， who came back with a solution - but even he had to admit， it was a bit of ahead-scratcher.

Professor Poladian noted that the 'trick' to the puzzle lay in that the blue flower on the final line only had four petals③petal 英 ［'pet（?）l］ 美 ［'p?tl］ n. 花瓣， not five.

In the puzzle， which is posted as a graphic， there are three lines showing what different combinations of flowers add up to. Then a new combination④combination 英 ［k?mb?'ne??（?）n］ 美 ［，kɑmb?'ne??n］n. 結合；組合；聯合；［化學］ 化合is shown， with no total， and it's up to people to work out the answer.

之前難倒一片網民的正是一道看似簡單的數學題。

成千上萬的臉書用戶就一道用花代替數字的等式問題展開了激烈的討論。

《每日郵報》澳大利亞版塊找到悉尼大學數學系的副教授里昂·波拉迪安，他解決了這道難題，不過即便是他也不得不承認，這道題有點傷腦筋。

波拉迪安教授指出這道題的陷阱在于最后一行中的藍色花朵僅有4片花瓣，而非上兩行的5片花瓣。

在這道以圖片形式登出的數學題中，列出了三行不同的花朵組合。而最后一行出現的新型組合沒有總和，得靠人們（根據前兩行的總和）算出這個答案。

Wrong： People have given a number of different answers on the Face book posts， with many of them incorrect

Because the puzzle tells us that the red flower is worth 20， a blue flower with five petals is worth five， and two yellow flowers are worth two.

In the final line there is one yellow flower added to one red flower multiplied⑤multiply 英 ［'m?lt?pla?］ 美 ［'m?lt?pla?］ vt. 乘；使增加；使繁殖；使相乘by one blue flower with four petals， making the equation 1 + 20 × 4.

答錯了！臉書上人們給出各式各樣的答案，而許多都沒有答對。

因為這道難題表明一朵紅色小花的值是20，5瓣的藍色小花的值為5，而兩朵黃色小花的值是2。

最后一行中是一朵黃色小花加上一朵紅色小花與一朵四瓣藍色小花的乘積，因而由1 + 20 × 4可算得答案，即81。

However， Professor Poladian did warn that puzzles like this can have more than one correct answer， as there is not enough information to confirm that the number of petals on a flower changes its value.

If you were to disregard⑥disregard 英 ［d?sr?'gɑ?d］ 美 ［，d?sr?'gɑrd］vt. 忽視；不理；漠視；不顧the number of petals on the blue flower， you would come up with an entirely different answer of 101.

不過波拉迪安教授還特意稱像這樣的題目能有不止一個正確答案，因為題中沒有足夠的信息能確認花瓣的數量會改變一朵花所代表的數值。

如果你不去管藍色小花的花瓣數，那么你就會得到一個完全不同的答案：101。