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I just began filling out a survey for a contest that Walmart is hosting. Since I live in Canada there is a skill testing question which was as follows: $$(4×2)+(6/3) ? 5 =$$ The answer to the equation is/was omitted.

What kind of mathematical significance does the question mark hold?

I have tried Googling the equation for an explanation, but to no avail. Is the equation bunk?

FWIW, the answer turned out to be 5... so obviously the question mark represented a subtraction symbol, but how was I ever supposed to induce that if the answer is/was omitted?

oldboy
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2 Answers2

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$8 + 2 ? 5 = 5$. simply swap the $?$ for $-$ and you will get $8+2-5=5$.

Mickey
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  • Why does the question represent a subtraction mark? The question was left unanswered, as such: (4x2) + (6/3) ? 5 = So how exactly do we know the equation equals 5? Of course if it equals 5, then the ? must represent a subtraction mark, but we don't know what the equation equals as this was left blank? – oldboy May 26 '17 at 08:57
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    i don't understand you, you clearly wrote that the equation equals 5. – Mickey May 26 '17 at 09:12
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    @Mickey not really, that came with edits – lesath82 May 26 '17 at 11:23
  • @lesath82 Nope, it was in the original question. – Mickey May 26 '17 at 11:28
  • @Mickey it was there in disguise. I think that the OP didn't get that the quiz was asking to identify the sign that makes the expression give $5$. If the expression is completed with $5$ on the RHS this becomes clear beyond any doubt, while an English sentence might have been misunderstood – lesath82 May 26 '17 at 11:33
  • I didn't write that. Somebody edited my question... The question was not asking which sign makes the expression give 5... In the SQT the answer is omitted. If the answer weren't omitted then it would be abundantly clear what the question mark represents... – oldboy May 27 '17 at 21:48
  • @Mickey No, it wasn't in the original question. Somebody edited my question and added information that wasn't there. I have re-edited my question so that it represents what I was actually asking in the first place... – oldboy May 27 '17 at 21:56
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Probably the intent of the quiz was to ask about the correct sign to place in the question mark's position to make the expression equal to $5$. Check the exact way how it was stated that the "correct answer" is $5$, it was most likely referred to the expression's value and not to the quiz answer.

lesath82
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  • No, it wasn't. Sorry, somebody edited my question and removed critical info and added info that was never there in the first place... – oldboy May 27 '17 at 21:49