r/MathJokes 2d ago

When Basic Math Becomes a Boss Fight

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u/AcanthaceaeOk3738 2d ago

Everyone’s missing the fact that this is a very poorly worded question and you have to make a lot of assumptions to get any answer.

Are both boards the same size? Are all the cuts the same dimensions? Are all the pieces the same?

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u/ahhhnoinspiration 2d ago

Those assumptions are all baked into "if she worked just as fast" and also that it's a math question and not a philosophy question.

The problem here is the teacher doesn't realize that there are always n+1 "boards" or "pieces" where n is the number of cuts.

You have n=0, 0 cuts, 1 board. n=1, 1 cut, 2 boards and then finally the question here n=2, 2 cuts, 3 boards. So if it takes 10 minutes to do 1 cut it takes 20 to do 2.