People have been left absolutely baffled by a children’s math question that asks which time is the closest to midnight.
The seemingly simple question, which is designed to be answered by kids, has left many adults red-faced as they find it impossible to answer.
While there may be many mathematical concepts that you’ve completely forgotten about, it’s not surprising that people have been left embarrassed after failing to answer this question: “What is the closest time to midnight?”
The available answers are: “A. 11:55 a.m., B. 12:06 a.m., C. 11:50 a.m., and D. 12:03 a.m.”
Are you confident your answer is correct?
The question, which has left many scratching their heads, was shared on social media, where it’s been dissected by users.
One person said: “The answer is clearly C because we can’t go back in time.”
Taking to artificial intelligence to crack the code, a second insisted: “ChatGPT says D as well.”
Meanwhile, others argued in favor of option A, figuring that it’s the closest approaching time to midnight.
One person in favor of this option wrote: “It says closest ‘to’ midnight. And not ‘from’ midnight. Stop overcomplicating everything. The answer is A.”
In agreement, another added: “It says closest TO midnight… not after midnight. A.”
But others took to the comments and argued that this theory was incorrect, as the question simply asked the ‘closest’ time to midnight, regardless of whether it’s before or after.
This would lead to the correct answer, which is D. 12:03 a.m.
One person who answered correctly commented: “The question speaks to proximity and not chronology, so the answer is D.”
Agreeing, a second 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.”
“How y’all saying ‘to’ not ‘after’. If you have to work at midnight and you’re running late, and you tell the boss ‘I’ll get there as close to the time as possible’ which of these is that?” commented another supporter of answer D.
This isn’t the only maths question that has left people scratching their heads, as many have also been left stumped by this exam question aimed at 10-year-olds.
