Mom puzzled by a question on her 7-year-old son’s math homework

A mother has taken to social media for help with her 7-year-old son’s math homeworld after it left her completely “baffled.”

It also stumped another parent with a doctorate in mathematics.

The Sun reports that the mother said that “homework has never been so difficult before, so she sought help online.”

Teresa Hopper shared the question with the Facebook group Family Lockdown Tips and Tricks.

He posted a photo of the math question along with a comment “I hate homework. Please help!”

“Is the answer a) and b) the same or am I missing something?”

The tough question is this: “Karla says, ‘I have three hundreds tiles, 17 tens tiles, and 16 units tiles.”

“a) Can you make two equal three-digit numbers? If so, draw the tiles to show them.

“b) Can you make two equal three-digit numbers if you had to use all your counters? If so, draw the counters to show.”

Although it may sound simple, many said they had a hard time answering the child’s homework.

“Clearly not for a 40 year old woman … I am lost,” wrote one commenter.

Another said: “I have a PhD in mathematics and I have no idea what this question does. Unless there is a diagram to go with it, or more explanations elsewhere.

Someone else asked, “How old is this task?”

“I’m 45 years old and I can’t figure it out hahaha,” added another.

Hopper confirmed to Fabulous Digital that they got it right in the end, sharing a snapshot of the response, which he wrote as 172 for a and 243 for b.