If ‘+’ means ‘−’, ‘−’ means ‘×’, ‘×’ means ‘÷’ and ‘÷’ means ‘+’, then what…
2025
If ‘+’ means ‘−’, ‘−’ means ‘×’, ‘×’ means ‘÷’ and ‘÷’ means ‘+’, then what will come in place of the question mark (?) in the following equation?
132 + 201 ÷ 72 × 4 − 5 = ?
- A.
11
- B.
18
- C.
21
- D.
19
Attempted by 1 students.
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Correct answer: C
In symbol-substitution reasoning problems, every arithmetic sign in the given expression must first be replaced by the operation it is stated to represent; only after every substitution is complete should the standard order of operations (BODMAS — division and multiplication before addition and subtraction, each group evaluated left to right) be applied to the transformed expression.
The rule states: '+' represents '−', '−' represents '×', '×' represents '÷', and '÷' represents '+'.
Replacing each sign in 132 + 201 ÷ 72 × 4 − 5 with its assigned meaning gives 132 − 201 + 72 ÷ 4 × 5.
By BODMAS, the division and multiplication are evaluated first, left to right: 72 ÷ 4 = 18, then 18 × 5 = 90.
The expression now reduces to 132 − 201 + 90.
Evaluating the addition and subtraction left to right: 132 − 201 = −69, then −69 + 90 = 21.
As an independent check, the same three terms can be regrouped as 132 + 90 − 201 = 222 − 201 = 21, which matches the value obtained above, confirming the result.
Hence, the value that replaces the question mark is 21.