
The “5 × 5 – 5 + 5 ÷ 5 (Only Genius)” Boarding Pass Puzzle — Explained Step by Step
At first glance, this expression printed on a boarding pass looks like a trick designed to confuse people under pressure:
5 × 5 – 5 + 5 ÷ 5
It often comes with a caption like “Only genius can solve this”, which makes it feel like a brain teaser. In reality, it’s not about advanced math—it’s about correctly applying the order of operations.
Let’s break it down clearly and step by step.
Step 1: Understand the rule (BODMAS / PEMDAS)
To solve any mixed operation expression, we follow a fixed order:
- B / P → Brackets / Parentheses
- O / E → Orders / Exponents
- D / M → Division / Multiplication (left to right)
- A / S → Addition / Subtraction (left to right)
So we must do multiplication and division first, before addition and subtraction.









No Responses Yet