What do you all get from this? How do you interpret “half?”

It's badly written, or meant to mislead. Literally, "divide 50 by half" means 50/0.5 = 100. But it's unusual to do that unless you're trying to teach that aspect of division. I think most people would read it as "divide 50 into half", or 50x0.5 = 25.

To me divide 50 by half is kind of a tricky way of saying "50 / 0.5" which is 100. Where as divide 50 IN half would be "50/2" which is 25.

Half would be 50% or x/2. So we would have (50/2) + 20 = x. Simplify it to 25 + 20 = x, and x = 45.

I would equate "divide by half" to "divide in half" (that is, 50 / 2). To me, if "half" were intended to mean 0.5, then this problem would be phrased as "divide by *one* half" (that is, 50 / 0.5). In my mind, only "one half" can stand alone as an independent value, while other "half"s are proportions or functions.

The answer is either A or B depending on how you interpret half. Either divide 50 in half if you interpret “by” as an error, so you get 25+20=45 or divide 50 by half (half of 50 is 25), so you get 2+20=22.

Wrong sub bud

Such math posts are deliberately written ambiguously for the purpose of generating social media engagement.

i got 45, but any educator who offers a math problem this ambiguous-detailed below by u/the_third_lebowski-should consider teaching lit-where ambiguity is valued & interesting.

see, i would do it this way. read as literally as possible. divide 50 by half. half being half of 50, as there is no other context, imo. then of course add 20, so 22. but i'm not good at math and that's why i'm on reddit.

The question is improperly phrased and because of this there are two possible interpretations. It is a mixture of two correct phrasings, producing something that isn't either of them. "Divide IN half" or "Divide by ONE half" (or two halves or three halves or whatever) would be correct and unambiguous.

My first interpretation of this was “divide 50 by half (of 50 = 25)” making the answer A) 22. But the only answer I don’t get is C) 100.

Would confirm that the intent was indeed 50/(1/2)+20. If that was not the intent then return it and demand a less ambiguous request.

This is rage-bait. And the issue is not the word "half." The wording is deliberately designed to elicit argument because it mixes colloquial conversation with a very specific mathematical function. Different people (depending on how strict their understanding and application of mathematical principles is) will interpret it differently and argue they are right. The confusion stems from the use (or misuse) of the word "of." There is only one correct answer, but plenty of people insist other answers are correct.

(50/0.5)+20 or (50/2)+20 It could be interpreted either way because the question is worded poorly.

How do you get 100

Here's confusion: You say, "Divide 50 by half" Divide 50 by half of what? When I see it, I see the literal question. So divide by half to me is divide 50 by 25. Which comes out radically different. I hate these gotcha word problems because they're written on purpose to be gotchas and they're stupid.

Trick question. In casual spoken English, divide “in” half means to divide by 2. Divide by half should technically mean 50/0.5, however many laypeople would think this means 50/2 because it’s very natural to say divide by half and mean divide by two. that’s the joke. It’s damn near impossible to calculate correctly, especially if the correct answer is provided for both in the multiple choice.

Do English speakers use "half" as meaning 0.5 ? In French the word for half is "moitié" and it's a term that only has a meaning when it actually refers to what is halved. "une moitié" can't exist without the definition of the "full object" it's halving. You can't divide 100 by half because half in itself doesn't really exists. According to discussions here, It seems it's not the same in English.

My initial answer for this is 22 because I thought "divide by half" meant "divide by half of 50" which is 25, so 50:25=2, 2+20=22

Help, even when interpreting it wrong, I can't figure out how you would ever get 100.

Divide 50 by half means 50 ÷ ½ which equals 100 Then add 20 is 100 + 20 which gives 120

Divide 50 by half is ambiguous: [a] half = 1/2, so 50÷(1/2)=100, 100+20=120 half [of 50] = 25, so 50÷25=2, 2+20=22 apply "divide by/in half" = x/2, so 50÷2=25, 25+20=45

You can "divide in half" and thanks to this beautiful language it is not even necessary to divide in halves, however if you "divide by half" your invoke the mathematical interpretation and you double.

“x divided by two” is unambiguously x/2 “x divided by one half” and “x divided by a half” are both unambiguously x/0.5 “x divided by half” is ambiguous, and that’s why these kinds of posts get popular. People argue in the comments

I dont understand the people who say this is a "trick question" or its "technically" this or that. It is really quite simple: Divide 50 by 2 = how many 2s in 50 ? = 25 Divide 50 by 1 = how many 1s in 50? = 50 Divide 50 by half = how many halves in 50? = 100 I dont see why people have such a problems with this,

It really bothers me when people say something like, "...is three times less than..." That concept does not makes sense and the listener is always required to translate it into what the speaker actually means. Even something like, "...is three times more..." doesn't mean what the speaker usually intends it to mean. Or at least there is some ambiguity in it.

It's the word "by" that creates the ambiguity. To talk about dividing something into two halves, we'd say "divide in half" or "divide by 2". By using a mixture of the two, which might be commonly heard in casual speech, the phrase might be saying "divide by 0.5" which would give the final answer 120, or even "divide by half \[of 50\]" which gives 22.

If I remember correctly, it's a trick question facilitated by bad wording. "Divide 50 by half" could mean 50/2 (divide it IN half), or it could mean 50/(1/2) (50 divided by one half), etc.

This is a trick question so don't feel bad. 100% common usage "divide by half" would be meant as divide in half. So 50 becomes 25. But *technically* that's wrong. Technically, dividing by half means dividing by 1/2. 50 divided by 1/2 becomes 100. But this is taking advantage of technical ambiguity where the clear meaning is something different. It's not clever, and no one who gets confused by it should be embarrassed. In the words of XKCD, "communicating badly and then acting smug when you're misunderstood is not cleverness." https://xkcd.com/169/

As someone with a degree in Engineering and thus used to having an ear for mathematical things, 'half' to me means 0.5 and when you divide by 0.5 you multiply by two. So if you pursue a mathematical interpretation that results in 120. Divide \*by\* half is very different to if you say 'divide \*in\* half' but the latter wouldn't be used in a mathematical context.

(50 ÷ ½) + 20 It's purposefully written to be confusing. Answer is 120

120

"Divide fifty by half" means nothing. It's not ambiguous. It's nonsense. "Divide fifty in half," makes sense. "Divide fifty by one half," makes sense.

In english terms dividing something by half typically means dividing it by 2. But it also technically means dividing by 0.5 or multiplying by 2. The terminology used should be divide IN half, but divide BY half has become colloquially accepted over time. It's a dumb question. Just like all those questions using the division symbol only used by middle schoolers.

I would do 50 ÷ 1/2, but that is a very confusing question.

I think A is the underrated answer here. This could be interpreted as "Divide 50 by half \[of itself\]", i.e. 50/25 = 2. 2 + 20 = 22. No idea how C could be right.

So basically half was supposed to be in numbers. Like (50÷0.5)+20 =120 OR 50 ½ +20 =120

Divide by half means 50/0.5 then adding 20 means 100+20=120

either i am bad at english or bad at math (probably both tbh), how can you get anything besides 45?

My native language is Russian, so for me half in this context is the half of the number we will doing operation on, so half of 50 is 25.

Divide X by Y means "How many Ys are in X?" For example: Divide 28 by 7 means "How many 7s are in 28?" The answer is 4 Divide 50 by half means "How many halves are in 50?" It might help to say something like "How many half-pizzas are there in 50 pizzas?" The answer is 100. However, as some are pointing out, this sounds very similar to "Divide 50 ***in*** half" Or, in other words, "Take half of 50 pizzas" The answer is 25.

There's a technically correct answer (50/0.5+20) and there's multiple completely reasonable interpretations of of it

To me, here divide by half means divide by half of the number stated (25) then add 20. The answer would be 22. To get 120, the directions should be ‘divide by one half’.

A) 22

Divide by .5.

It's a teick question and will get people arguing for hours over what the answer is.

They’re intentionally using nonstandard language. “Divide by half” isn’t a thing in English. Either divide *in* half (divide by 2) or divide *by one half* (divide by 0.5; nobody ever says this because it’s so much clearer to either say divide by 0.5 or multiply by two) They put it this way precisely because its meaning is ambiguous and undefined. A feature, not a bug, when they’re trying to confuse you.

120.

D

If you take "half" as 1/2 then you get 120 as the answer. But if you take "half" as dividing the number by two then the answer would be 45.

It's meant to be a trick question but the person who wrote it wasn't as smart as they thought they were. "Divide by half" doesn't mean the same thing as "divide by one half." "Divide by half" means the same as "divide in half." The answer is unambiguously 45, unless you are the same unfortunate overlap of pedantic and unintelligent as the person who wrote this.

So I can explain 3 of the answer choices, but C eludes me. The wording is intentionally ambiguous as many have pointed out. It's also the whole point of the original post. The answer is going to depend on how you interpret it. For solution A it's being read as "divide 50 by half of itself (or 25) and add 20" For solution B (probably the most common interpretation) it's being read as "divide 50 by 2 and add 20" For solution C ??? For solution D it's being read as "divide 50 by 1/2 and add 20"

Keep Change Flip Baby. 120

D. 120 50/1/2+20=50*2+20

“Divide 50 by half and add 20.” (50 ÷ 2) + 20 = 𝑥 25 + 20 = 𝑥 𝑥 = 45 Of course, you could argue that it’s (50 ÷ 0.5) + 20 = 𝑥 100 + 20 = 𝑥 𝑥 = 120 However, I do not believe that this is the case. Primarily, it would have been worded as “Divide 50 by half *of 1* and add 20.” or “Divide 50 by *0.5* and add 20.” But it would be clearer if it was worded “Divide 50 *in* half and add 20.”

In regular English speaking life, divide means split up. In formal Math, divide means inverse of multiply or multiply by reciprocal. The OP mixes this together to make it confusing.

It is in fact deliberately worded poorly. Divide 50 in half would be clearly 25. Idiomatically however divide 50 by half does not say half of what. If it said divide 50 by one half then it would be 50 * 0.5. but it could be divide 50 by half of 50 to bet 50/25=2 What's the answer 22 even on the list? I can't see it while I'm answering on my phone. When push comes to shove the correct answer is to make the person refine the question until it's unambiguous. This is the same thing as the problem with all those badly mangled math problems or they make algebraic and mathematical notations Most childish riddles are based on trying to pull and gotcha moment after using a deliberately poor selection of words.

(50/1 ➗1/2) +20 Remember a number is over one even if not written that way so it’s 50 over 1. You reverse the division to multiplication by canceling. The 1s cancel each other so you’re multiplying 50 and 2 now. (50x2)+20 =120

Generally, I’d assume the person asking this doesn’t really understand phrasing in math, so I’d take it to mean 50/2 + 20. However, if they’re someone who I know is experienced or whatever with this I’ll say 50/(1/2) + 20. Also all of this is contingent upon it saying “half.” If it says “one half,” then I’ll take it to mean 50/(1/2) + 20 regardless. Also, how do you get 22 or 100?

just a typo. They mean in , not by.

"Divide by half" means ÷ 0.5. "Divide in half" means ÷ 2. Prepositions matter. To get into the nitty-gritty, "divide by" is the verbal syntax for a division sign. 6 ÷ 3 is "six divided by three" or alternately "six divided into thirds", to parallel "divided in half". 6 ÷ 0.333 could be called "six divided by a third", therefore "50 divided by half" would be 50 ÷ 0.5 = 100.

I understand getting A, B, or D but how on earth do you get C?

Dividing **BY** **ONE** half (or divide by **A** half) is the same as multiplying by 2. (answer 100+20= 120) Divide **IN** half means half of 50.(answer 25+20=45) But this questions says neither of these things. "By half" is not clear phrasing in English. I suppose it depends on whether this is is an english class or a math class. However in BOTH scenarios the order of operations is clear. You do the first thing (divide 50 by half, whichever way they mean) THEN take that answer and add 20.

If this were at all clever one of the options would be 35

I would say either “Divide fifty by one-half,” or better yet, “Divide fifty by zero point five,” versus “Divide fifty in half.” (American native speaker.) You can make it even clearer that you mean ½ by saying, “the fraction one-half” or “one over two.”

D

The way I interpreted it initially was 50/2 = 25 + 20 = 45. But also it's one of those maths questions that is a bit ambiguous so I also realised it might mean 50/(0.5) then + 20.

D.

The only answer is 120.

I get A, B, D but how to get C?

45 is the answer

It's not ambiguous. By and in are distinctly defined.

Half is 0.5, so the answer is 120.

120

D is correct and i can see how you would get B. but where does A and C come from??

I figured out how to get a b and d. Could someone explain how i get c 100?

If you can get these three answers: 22 = 50 / 25 (half of 50) + 20, 45 = 50 / 2 + 20, 120 = 50 / 0.5 + 20, Then how do you get 100?

This is horrible ambiguous wording, which is the point of the meme

I read it as "divide 50 by half (of itself)" so I'd divide it by 25. Every time it was ever worded this way (in my classes) it meant to divide the number by half of itself. I mean, my teacher made those tests so he could have been wrong lol. But that's what he taught us. :)

You don't. This isn't a proper math question.

50 divided by 0.5 to get 100. there's only one way I could've interpreted that.

Dumb way of wording a question

Prepositions are tricky, and this is a silly trick question that uses “by” in a way that suggests the more common use of “in”. Interwebs being interwebs.

Divide by is multiple by the reverse. /½ = •2, /⅓ = •3, etc. The wording suggests the correct answer is D)120.

A

I can see three possible interpretations of this. It's intentionally phrased poorly as a lot of these questions tend to be. My first assumption: "Divide by half" usually means "divide by 2 for equal halves", so 25 - then add 20, for 45. Another possibility is "divide by half" being in reference to 50. Divide 50 by half of 50 - so, 50 divided by 25, giving 2. Then, add 20, for 22. The final possibility I can see is 'divide by half' referring to the 1/2 or .5 value, so 50/.5 would be 100. Then add 20, and get 120.

"fifty divided by half" = 50 ÷ ½ "fifty divided in half" = 50 ÷ 2

50/ 0.5= 100 Adding 20 to 100 becomes 120 The correct answer is 120

50 / (50/2) +20, 50/2+20, ??? 50/.5+20 How do you get 100? 

Ok 50/0.5 =100 is clear. No redditor falls for it. But where will we add that 20? To the result or to 50. If we add it to 50 then we have a separate 70 in hand. So the answer is a 100 and a 70. But since it is not a question either we don’t need to answer I guess. Just do what it says in your mind and that’s it. No answer required. Thanks, Regards.

"Half" = cut unto two equal pieces! 50÷2=25 25+20=45!

This is more of an English problem than a math problem.

divide by half can be interpreted as doubling.

D 120. Or am I missing a joke or punchline here?

“Divide 50 by half” It doesn’t say what half refers to. They could mean half of 1. But, the most recent noun that “half” could refer to is “50.” This, being literal, this means “divide 50 by half of 50.” That would be 50/25, which is 2. Then, add 20 and you get 22. 22 is the correct answer.

I got 120

It's saying divide 50 by “half” rather than “one half” or “in half”. So I assume it means divide 50 by half the value of 50, so 50 divided by 25 is equal to 2. Plus 20 puts us at A: 22

Divide fifty by half of what? It's written ambiguously. Fifty divided by half of fifty is 2, so the answer would be 22. Fifty divided by half of one is 100, so the answer would be 120.

In which case can I get 100?

It should be easy... ~~"To devide something by half" means to separate it into 2 peaces of equal size or value or other measurements~~ ~~If you wanted to divide 50 by 1/2, you would have to say "divided 50 by a half" which is completely different~~ ~~1/2 is "a half" not just "half"~~ Edit: ok, I was wrong. But, to my knowledge, in common speech people seem to interpret "divide by half" and "divide in half" as the same thing

I interpret this as poor grammar. It should be "divide by a half" if you mean divide by 0.5 or "divide by 2" if you mean to take half of 50.

45 for the reasons other have said. There's a difference between "divide by half" and "divide by a half".

The answer is B)45 When I hear half I think of 50%, of 50. Which is 25. 25+20=45