# so what is the correct answer
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-correct-answer/653560
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [March 21, 2013, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-correct-answer/653560 "2013-03-21T19:08:40Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2013, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-correct-answer/653560/1 "2013-03-21T19:08:40Z")
There’s this thingie going around on fb
1 + 5 = 12
2 + 10 = 24
3 + 15 = 36
then
5 + 25 = ?
I say the correct answer is 30.
Just because somebody wants to say 1 + 5 + 12, 2 + 10 = 24, and 3 + 15 = 36 doesn’t make it so, so the correct answer is 30.
I understand how people get 60, I figured out how some come up with 48.
I still think it’s 30.
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### Author:  [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2013, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-correct-answer/653560/2 "2013-03-21T19:12:59Z")
I’d guess 60, but then I know zilch about fb culture.
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### Author:  [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2013, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-correct-answer/653560/3 "2013-03-21T19:14:04Z")
> [@lieu](#):
>
> I’d guess 60.
Me, too.
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### Author:  [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2013, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-correct-answer/653560/4 "2013-03-21T19:21:44Z")
> [@Zeldar](#):
>
> Me, too.
Me six. But I see the OP’s point. The previous examples are not necessarily rules, just bad math.
How do you get 48?
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### Author:  [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2013, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-correct-answer/653560/5 "2013-03-21T19:23:15Z")
of course it’s 30. If you used an undefined function (instead of than “+” ) the answer would be 60. But I don’t understand facebook etiher
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### Author:  [@NeonMadman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NeonMadman)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2013, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-correct-answer/653560/6 "2013-03-21T19:24:37Z")
Probably 60, on the basis that the initial number in each equation is talking about sevens.
One seven + 5 = 12
2 sevens + 10 = 24
3 sevens + 15 = 36
then
5 sevens + 25 = 60
Why you should assume that these numbers refer to multiples of 7 is beyond me, but it does make the equations work.
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### Author:  [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2013, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-correct-answer/653560/7 "2013-03-21T19:24:52Z")
n/p
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2013, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-correct-answer/653560/8 "2013-03-21T19:27:31Z")
60 seems the obvious answer to me. But I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s more than one logically defensible answer.
ETA: Of course, literally, 5+25 is 30. But if the question is supposed to be a pattern-finding type of question (like “if 1+5=12; 2+10=24, 3+15=36, what is 5+25” type of thing, where we accept the initial examples as being correct.) then 60 is at least the obvious “correct” answer.
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### Author:  [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2013, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-correct-answer/653560/9 "2013-03-21T19:28:07Z")
Strikes me as a lame puzzle, but either you’re going to treat it as a puzzle or you’re going to, inexplicably, treat it as something else. If you treat it as something else, why on earth are you bothering with it? If you treat it as a puzzle, then like all puzzles you have to figure out the internal rules of the puzzle. In this one, it seems to be saying, “If you add two groups of these things together, the sum is double what you’re adding.” To put some words with the equations, you might say, “1 [pair of socks] + 5 [pairs of socks] = 12 [socks].” That’s perfectly fine math, with those words–and discovering those words, or similar ones, are what the puzzle’s all about.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2013, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-correct-answer/653560/10 "2013-03-21T19:36:34Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#):
>
> Strikes me as a lame puzzle, but either you’re going to treat it as a puzzle or you’re going to, inexplicably, treat it as something else. If you treat it as something else, why on earth are you bothering with it? If you treat it as a puzzle, then like all puzzles you have to figure out the internal rules of the puzzle. In this one, it seems to be saying, “If you add two groups of these things together, the sum is double what you’re adding.” To put some words with the equations, you might say, “1 [pair of socks] + 5 [pairs of socks] = 12 [socks].” That’s perfectly fine math, with those words–and discovering those words, or similar ones, are what the puzzle’s all about.
Exactly. And my brain didn’t even go that deep into the pattern. I just saw 1,2,3,5 in the first column, then multiples of 5 in the second column, and then multiples of 12 in the third column. As the “5+25=?” continued the a+5a=12a pattern, I just assumed the answer was 12\*5. If the question was given as “5+23=?” that would have been a little trickier, and required me to follow your train of thought to get 56.
But I suspect there’s a few different defensible answers.
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### Author:  [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2013, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-correct-answer/653560/11 "2013-03-21T19:38:04Z")
> [@tdn](#):
>
> How do you get 48?
I would imagine from looking at the progression of sums on the right side and seeing that it would be next (12, 24, 36, 48…) without noticing that the left side skipped the “4 + 20” step.
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### Author:  [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2013, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-correct-answer/653560/12 "2013-03-21T19:42:21Z")
> [@NeonMadman](#):
>
> Probably 60, on the basis that the initial number in each equation is talking about sevens.
>
> One seven + 5 = 12
>
> 2 sevens + 10 = 24
>
> 3 sevens + 15 = 36
>
> then
>
> 5 sevens + 25 = 60
>
> Why you should assume that these numbers refer to multiples of 7 is beyond me, but it does make the equations work.
wow. I saw two of the first number plus two of the second number equals the answer. No “sevens”, but also got 60
As far as it being a puzzle, I’m not sure. Might just be a variation of the Lincoln joke about when you call a calf’s tail a leg and ask how many legs a calf would then have, the answer is four. Calling it a leg doesn’t make it a leg.
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2013, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-correct-answer/653560/13 "2013-03-21T19:56:08Z")
> [@Procrustus](#):
>
> wow. I saw two of the first number plus two of the second number equals the answer. No “sevens”, but also got 60
>
> As far as it being a puzzle, I’m not sure. Might just be a variation of the Lincoln joke about when you call a calf’s tail a leg and ask how many legs a calf would then have, the answer is four. Calling it a leg doesn’t make it a leg.
Actually, it’s even simpler if the operation isn’t simply “add” but “add and multiply by two” Then (1 + 5 ) X 2 = 12 directly, and all the others follow as well. And (5 + 25) X 2 = 60 as with the assumption that the first digit is the number of sevens and the second the number of units. .
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### Author:  [@dataguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dataguy)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2013, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-correct-answer/653560/14 "2013-03-21T20:10:40Z")
72
The numbers on the left are base10. The numbers on the right are base4.
1 + 5 = 12 : 6=1_4 + 2
2 + 10 = 24 : 12=2_4 +4
3 + 15 = 36 : 18=3\*4 +6
then
5 + 25 = 72 : 30=7\*4 +2
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### Author:  [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2013, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-correct-answer/653560/15 "2013-03-21T20:14:34Z")
> [@dataguy](#):
>
> 72
>
> The numbers on the left are base10. The numbers on the right are base4.
> 1 + 5 = 12 : 6=1_4 + 2
> 2 + 10 = 24 : 12=2_4 +4
> 3 + 15 = 36 : 18=3\*4 +6
>
> then
>
> 5 + 25 = 72 : 30=7\*4 +2
And you call yourself **Data Guy**? 😉
There’s no such thing as 7 in base 4. Perhaps you mean 132 (1_16+3_4+2)?
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### Author:  [@panaccione](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panaccione)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2013, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-correct-answer/653560/16 "2013-03-21T20:20:24Z")
It’s definitely 30.
It’s a lesson in obedience. We all know the first three equations are incorrect on their face value but are supposed to accept them just cause.
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### Author:  [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2013, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-correct-answer/653560/17 "2013-03-21T20:22:36Z")
> [@NeonMadman](#):
>
> Probably 60, on the basis that the initial number in each equation is talking about sevens.
>
> One seven + 5 = 12
>
> 2 sevens + 10 = 24
>
> 3 sevens + 15 = 36
>
> then
>
> 5 sevens + 25 = 60
>
> Why you should assume that these numbers refer to multiples of 7 is beyond me, but it does make the equations work.
Interesting because I saw it as multiplying the real answer by 2.
1 + 5 = 6 x 2 =12
2 + 10 = 15 x 2 = 30
or that the first column increases by 1s
the second increases by 5s
and the third increases by 12s.
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### Author:  [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2013, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-correct-answer/653560/18 "2013-03-21T20:24:37Z")
> [@Procrustus](#):
>
> wow. I saw two of the first number plus two of the second number equals the answer. No “sevens”, but also got 60
>
> As far as it being a puzzle, I’m not sure. Might just be a variation of the Lincoln joke about when you call a calf’s tail a leg and ask how many legs a calf would then have, the answer is four. Calling it a leg doesn’t make it a leg.
That’s what I thought, a variation of the Lincoln joke.
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### Author:  [@dataguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dataguy)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2013, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-correct-answer/653560/19 "2013-03-21T20:24:58Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#):
>
> And you call yourself **Data Guy**? 😉
>
> There’s no such thing as 7 in base 4. Perhaps you mean 132 (1_16+3_4+2)?
You’re right! I had the right method but the wrong answer.
132 it is.
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2013, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-correct-answer/653560/20 "2013-03-21T20:34:45Z")
There’s no right answer the thing exists for the sole purpose of attracting comments, for some seo purpose, probably.
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