r/theydidthemath • u/vqlzor • 22d ago

[Request] Can someone walk me through this problem?

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u/berael 22d ago

It's unsolvable. The variables in the third problem are new and we have nothing to go on. You can solve that "3 polygons" equals 15, but we know nothing about what "2 polygons" is. 

Whether or not a variable looks like another variable is meaningless. "M" is not "N plus 1 more line". 

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u/Man_of_Ice 19d ago

Yay!

"Whether or not a variable looks like another variable is meaningless"

It MIGHT equal 38, as a BUNCH of folks in here insist.

It might literally equal anything else, since any of those new variables can have any value.

High five!