This Chinese math question for 5th graders is stumping adults across the internet — see if you can figure it out

• A Chinese math question for 5th graders asks "If a ship had 26 sheep and 10 goats onboard, how old is the ship's captain?"
• It's going viral because no one can figure out how to solve it.
• The solution may or may not have anything to do with math.

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A math question for 5th graders in the Chinese district of Shunqing is stumping adults around the world. 

The problem translates as follows:

"If a ship had 26 sheep and 10 goats onboard, how old is the ship's captain?"

How is the amount of cargo a ship contains supposed to help you figure out how old the captain is?

The internet had a lot to say about this seemingly impossible math question, which became a trending topic on Twitter.

The math question of my nightmares in Chinese!!!

— Stella Stella (@OStellaStella) January 31, 2018

That sounds like one of those troll questions that isn't actually a question, but if you know the time span or age you have to be to own a boating license in China, you will get it.

Well played.https://t.co/o7MP8M2FOl

— Tom (@mastersteak88) January 31, 2018

So am I the only one who multiplied 26x54 and then added 10x60 and divided by 36? The number of chromosome is 54 & 60. I immediately though it was a math/science pairing

⚡️ “A Chinese math question paper has left everyone puzzled 🤔”https://t.co/K83OiqCwfa

— Jon Hopper (@Hoppalicious) January 31, 2018

When I was young, teachers told me this was a question in American math exams in order to develop American children’s divergent thinking and courage to challenge authority. https://t.co/eurmeeU1VV

— J R (@running_wolf3) January 31, 2018

One person did come up with a solution.

A commenter on Weibo, a popular microblogging site in China, thought of a way to determine the captain's age based on the ship's cargo.

"The total weight of 26 sheep and 10 goat is 7,700kg, based on the average weight of each animal," they wrote according to a BBC translation. "In China, if you're driving a ship that has more than 5,000kg of cargo you need to have possessed a boat license for five years. The minimum age for getting a boat's license is 23, so he's at least 28."

According to school officials, the goal is to promote critical thinking.

After the test question went viral, the Shunqing Education Department released a statement saying that the question was meant to "examine... critical awareness and an ability to think independently," according to a BBC translation. If so, whether or not the math problem is solvable isn't relevant. The point is to encourage students to think creatively about possible ways to figure it out and come up with their own answers.

It doesn't matter if you're a math expert or not. If the question got you thinking, then you're just as smart as these 5th graders.

SEE ALSO: 10 riddles you can only solve if you're really smart

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