A math quiz for adults. Can you solve it?
In this article, we’re showcasing plenty of math quizzes that we want adults to try!
We’ve gathered everything from puzzles you can solve with a flash of insight—but can be tricky if you’re too rigid—to serious problems that have appeared in the Math Olympiad.
They’re perfect for killing time and training your brain.
You can enjoy them with other math-loving adults, or challenge your child to see who can solve them faster—it sounds fun either way.
Give them a try with a game-like mindset!
- [Interesting] Collection of Math Quiz Problems
- Math quiz for elementary school students
- [Brain Training] Difficult Riddles That Even Adults Struggle With
- Fun Quiz Questions That Will Liven Up the Office [2026]
- How many can you solve? Brain-flexing math riddle quiz
- A collection of challenging quizzes for adults [Difficult]
- [Interesting] Collection of Matchstick Quiz Problems
- [Daily Challenge] A Collection of Cipher Quiz Problems to Stimulate the Adult Brain
- [Challenging and Fun!] Quizzes & Riddles for Adults
- [Battle of Wits] Stimulate your intellectual curiosity! Quiz questions that get adults excited
- [Trick Quiz] Quiz Questions That Excite Everyone from Kids to Adults
- [Interesting] A collection of brain teaser quiz questions. Let's train your brain!
- [Satisfying When Solved] Challenging Quizzes Recommended for Elementary School Students!
Math quiz for adults. Can you solve it? (11–20)
Math problems that elementary schoolers can solve but adults surprisingly can’t
This is a 2018 entrance exam problem from Nada Junior High School.
Although it’s aimed at elementary school students, it’s quite challenging as you’d expect from a prestigious school.
That said, if your goal is simply to enjoy the problems, I think they’re the kind that even adults who weren’t particularly good at arithmetic can still appreciate.
Arithmetic puzzle from the Edo period
If you find ordinary arithmetic quizzes boring, I recommend trying some problems created in the Edo period.
Back then, people would write problems and their solutions on wooden votive tablets (ema) and dedicate them to shrines and temples, which gives a sense of long history.
Don’t underestimate problems devised by people of the past—they’re surprisingly difficult!
A math quiz that tricks 90% of people! Brain-teasing trick questions
I think everyone can do the calculation written on paper, “1 + 2 × 3 =”.
The answer is, yes, 7.
But when this problem is asked orally, people tend to calculate 1 + 2 first and don’t arrive at the correct answer.
Try the “Math Quiz that Tricks 90% of People!” to give your brain a workout.
“The sum of 20Ω and 30Ω in series is 50Ω, but what is it when connected in parallel?” The answer is 12Ω.
Work through it with a laugh, thinking, “I used to be good at arithmetic and science back in the day…”!
Find the pattern · IQ Test Kanji Calculation
This might not be a traditional arithmetic quiz.
It’s a calculation puzzle where you find patterns in kanji.
Once you see the answer, you may think, “Oh, so that’s all it was,” but because there are so many possible approaches before you get there, it’s easy to get confused—something common with this type of quiz.
Be sure to fully engage the parts of your brain you don’t usually use.
The logic puzzle “1,000 Lockers” from Microsoft interviews
As expected of a problem posed by the genius Bill Gates, it seems like the kind of question that only someone who can build a physics engine in their head and run it over and over like a game could solve.
It’s very puzzling to think it could be handled with formulas—something ordinary people wouldn’t readily come up with.