Another symbol swap — Coding & Decoding Aptitude Question
Another symbol swap: If '×' means '+', '+' means '÷', '−' means '×' and '÷' means '−', what is the value of: 6 × 4… Answer and worked solution on CodeKairo.
- Topic: Coding & Decoding
- Section: Logical Reasoning
- Difficulty: Hard
- Time target: 105 seconds
Question
If '×' means '+', '+' means '÷', '−' means '×' and '÷' means '−', what is the value of:
6 × 4 + 2 − 3 ÷ 5
Options
- 5
- 7
- 9
- 11
Show the answer and the worked solution
Correct answer: B. 7
Worked solution
- Substituting: 6 + 4 ÷ 2 × 3 − 5.
- 4 ÷ 2 = 2; 2 × 3 = 6.
- 6 + 6 − 5 = 7.
Answer: 7.
The idea
Substitute first, then apply BODMAS strictly. Writing the rewritten expression on its own line prevents mixing the two steps.
Shortcut. Only the middle block needs care: 4 ÷ 2 × 3 runs left to right to 6 (not 4 ÷ 6). The outer 6 and − 5 net to +1, so the answer is 6 + 1 = 7.
Common trap. "11" — turning × into + and then leaving the original + as addition instead of changing it to ÷: 6 + 4 + 2 × 3 − 5 = 11.