A viral math puzzle has been confusing people all over the internet.
At first glance, it looks like a simple primary school problem.
However, thousands of people rush to answer and get trapped.
The puzzle presents this exact arithmetic expression: 45 ÷ 5 + 3 × 2 – 6.
Right below it, a bold warning says that the answer is definitely not 15.
Why do so many people confidently think the answer is 15 in the first place?
The mistake happens when people calculate the numbers strictly from left to right.
Let us follow that incorrect path to understand the trap.
First, someone takes 45 and divides it by 5, which gives 9.
Next, they immediately add 3 to that result, reaching 12.
Then, they multiply 12 by 2, which equals 24.
Finally, they subtract 6 from 24, resulting in 18, or they make another common mental error and land on 15.
Neither of those answers is mathematically correct.
In real mathematics, we cannot simply calculate from left to right without rules.
We must always obey the standard order of operations.
In school, this rule is known around the world as PEMDAS or BODMAS.
This universal rule tells us which operations to perform first.
Parentheses come first, followed by exponents.
Next come multiplication and division, working strictly from left to right.
Finally, we calculate addition and subtraction, also from left to right.
Now, let us apply this correct mathematical rule to our original expression step by step.
Our expression is 45 ÷ 5 + 3 × 2 – 6.
There are no parentheses and no exponents to worry about here.
Therefore, our first priority is to handle all multiplication and division from left to right.
The first operation we encounter is the division: 45 ÷ 5.
When we divide 45 by 5, we get 9.
The expression now becomes 9 + 3 × 2 – 6.
We still have a multiplication left, which is 3 × 2.
Multiplying 3 by 2 gives us 6.
Now, we replace that part in our expression.
The entire problem has simplified into a much easier form: 9 + 6 – 6.
All multiplication and division are now completely finished.
Our last step is to perform addition and subtraction from left to right.
First, we add 9 and 6 together, which equals 15.
This is the exact moment where many people stop too early and mistakenly shout out 15.
They forget the very last part of the equation, which is subtracting 6.
Taking our 15 and subtracting 6 brings us straight to 9.
Alternatively, you can easily notice that adding 6 and then subtracting 6 cancels each other out completely.
Either way, you are left with just the number 9.
Therefore, following proper logic and arithmetic rules, the only correct answer to this puzzle is 9.
