Can YOU solve this high school maths problem? Students still scratching their heads over the '50 cent piece' question in final exams - and parents admit even they have no idea how to answer it

  • Some Victorian Year 12 students sat the VCE Further Maths exam on Friday
  • Students are complaining that a multiple choice question was too hard
  • An online debate has begun online with others arguing it is too easy
  • Adults are now testing themselves to see if they can solve the question 

By Lucy Thackray for Daily Mail Australia

Published: | Updated:

Victorian high school students are complaining a maths question in their crucial final exam was far too difficult, sparking furious online debate.

On Friday Year 12 VCE students sat the Further Maths exam and were confronted with a question which will change the way they look at 50 cent coins forever.

The multiple choice question asked students to look at two 50 cent coins with 12 sides each - which are known as dodecagons - and find the degree of the angle between them.

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Victorian high school students are complaining a maths question in their crucial last exam was too difficult

Victorian high school students are complaining a maths question in their crucial last exam was too difficult

On Friday Year 12 VCE students sat the Further Maths exam and were confronted with a question which will change the way they look at 50 cent coins forever

On Friday Year 12 VCE students sat the Further Maths exam and were confronted with a question which will change the way they look at 50 cent coins forever

However, many on social media have retaliated by arguing the question is simple to solve

However, many on social media have retaliated by arguing the question is simple to solve

‘A 50 cent coin has 12 sides of equal length. Two 50 cent coins are balanced next to each other on a table so they meet along one edge,’ the question reads. 

Students were then asked to select from five options from 12 to 72 degrees.

Many students have spent the days since the exam mulling over the question and took to social media to vent about their anguish.

‘F*** you 50 cent, I didn’t like your music anyway,’ one defeated Year 12 student posted, according to The Age. 

‘That exam wasn't there to test us, it was to trick, no one could of prepared for that,’ a VCE student wrote.

‘The 50 cent coin question make no sense to me as it asked us to find the angle, but it gave us no other angles or lengths to enter in the formulas so there was simply no way about it,’ a student said conclusively. 

‘It was sh**ty question,’ another student told Daily Mail Australia in very simple terms. 

‘Still trying to figure out the angle,’ another student wrote, taking a photo of two 50 cent coins side by side in the hope the real life representation could shed some light on the equation. 

However, people retaliated on social media – putting salt in the wounds of jaded VCE students by arguing the question was actually too simple to even be in a Year 12 exam.  

HOW DO YOU SOLVE THE 50 CENT COIN MATH QUESTION? 

There are many ways in which the question can be solved - here are a few worked solutions.

 

1. THE EXTERIOR ANGLES OF A POLYGON 

The sum of all the exterior angles in any shape will always be 360°.

Therefore, the exterior angle of one of the sides can be worked out by: 360°/12 = 30°

This number must then be multiplied by two, because the angle is where two exterior angles meet.

Therefore the answer is found by (360°/12) x 2 = 60° 

 

2. THE INTERIOR ANGLES OF A POLYGON 

There are 12 angles inside the polygon.

The interior angles of the coin are calculated using the rule 180n-360

The total interior angle sum of the coin is 1800°

When divided by the number of sides - 12 - you find each interior angle is 150° 

As the interior angle is 150°, the exterior angle is 30° as a straight line is 180°

The exterior angle must be multiplied by two to find the answer: 60° 

* Alternatively, the rotation at a point is 360° 

Once the two interior angles are found - 150° - they are subtracted from 360° to find the remaining angle i.e. 360° - 150° - 150° = 60°


3. THE ANGLE SUM OF A TRIANGLE

Some students solved the question by arguing the unknown angle is part of an equilateral triangle.

An equilateral triangle has three equal sides and each angle is 60°

However, people debated on social media that it is not known whether the angle is equilateral or an isosceles triangle which has two equal sides. This could be proven with trigonometry.

Teachers also insist the question was within the expected ability of a Further Maths VCE student and suggest students may have overthought the problem

Teachers also insist the question was within the expected ability of a Further Maths VCE student and suggest students may have overthought the problem

Students found the answer by working out the exterior angle of a 12-sided polygon - a dodecagon

Students found the answer by working out the exterior angle of a 12-sided polygon - a dodecagon

Many people have even put salt in the wounds of jaded VCE students by insisting the question was too easy

Many people have even put salt in the wounds of jaded VCE students by insisting the question was too easy

Many students have spent the days since the exam mulling over the question and took to social media to vent about their anguish

Many students have spent the days since the exam mulling over the question and took to social media to vent about their anguish

Adults have started to test themselves, with many relieved to find the right 

Adults have started to test themselves, with many relieved to find the right 

‘This seriously took me 10 seconds to solve. Stop your whinging kids!’ Adam Astill wrote on Facebook.

‘And this stumped VCE students? Gimme a break! My Year 5s could have worked it out,’ wrote Darren Adams.

‘It is easy. Overthinking did them in,’ wrote Pothiraju Seetharam.

Some students also argued that the question was easy to solve with a knowledge of how to find either the interior or exterior angles of a polygon.

‘I thought that question was one of the easiest ones in the booklet,’ one student boasted.

'And when is this going to be used in real life?' raged another. 

'Phew, glad I got it right! That could have been embarrassing,' an adult posted after taking on the Year 12 exam question. 

A multiple choice question asked students to look at two 50 cent coins with 12 sides each - dodecagons

A multiple choice question asked students to look at two 50 cent coins with 12 sides each - dodecagons

Some students also argued that the question was easy to solve with a knowledge of how to find either the interior or exterior angles of a polygon

Some students also argued that the question was easy to solve with a knowledge of how to find either the interior or exterior angles of a polygon

 

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