Math riddles are more than just a fun pastime—they’re a mental workout that combines logic, arithmetic, and creative problem-solving into one engaging package. Whether you’re looking to sharpen your mind, challenge your friends, or simply enjoy the satisfaction of solving a tricky puzzle, math riddles offer something for everyone.
From easy problems that warm up your brain to complex conundrums that require serious thought, these riddles are a fantastic way to exercise your mathematical muscles.
In this article, we’ve gathered a collection of the best riddles about math across different levels of difficulty. Get ready to test your wits and enjoy the thrill of cracking these brain teasers!
Best Math Riddles with Answers
- Riddle: I am an odd number. Take away one letter, and I become even. What number am I?
Answer: Seven ✨ - Riddle: What comes once in a minute, twice in a moment, but never in a thousand years?
Answer: The letter M ⏳ - Riddle: I add five to nine and get two. The answer is correct, but how?
Answer: A clock 🕒 (9 + 5 = 14, which is 2 on a clock) - Riddle: What number do you get when you multiply all the numbers on a phone’s keypad?
Answer: Zero 📱 - Riddle: What three positive numbers give the same result when multiplied and added together?
Answer: 1, 2, and 3 ➗✖️ - Riddle: What is half of two plus two?
Answer: Three 🧠 (Half of 2 is 1 + 2 = 3) - Riddle: If there are four apples and you take away three, how many do you have?
Answer: Three 🍎 - Riddle: A farmer has 17 sheep, and all but 9 die. How many are left?
Answer: Nine 🐑 - Riddle: What two whole numbers come out the same whether you multiply or add them?
Answer: 2 and 2 ➕✖️ - Riddle: How can you make seven even without subtraction?
Answer: Remove the S ✂️ - Riddle: If two’s company and three’s a crowd, what are four and five?
Answer: Nine 👥👥 - Riddle: The more you take, the more you leave behind. What am I?
Answer: Footsteps 👣 - Riddle: When is 99 more than 100?
Answer: On a microwave 🍲 (99 seconds = 1 minute and 39 seconds, which is more than 1 minute 40 seconds) - Riddle: What 4-digit number can be written forward, backward, or upside down and still be the same number?
Answer: 1001 🔄 - Riddle: How many sides does a circle have?
Answer: Two (inside and outside) 🔵
Easy Math Riddles with Answers
- Riddle: What has a face and two hands but no arms or legs?
Answer: A clock 🕰️ - Riddle: I am a number you can count on. What am I?
Answer: One ☝️ - Riddle: If you multiply this number by any other number, the result will always be the same. What number is it?
Answer: Zero 0️⃣ - Riddle: Which number is more than double 11 but less than 25?
Answer: 22 🔢 - Riddle: What is the smallest even number?
Answer: Two 2️⃣ - Riddle: How many months have 28 days?
Answer: All of them 🗓️ - Riddle: What number becomes smaller when you turn it upside down?
Answer: Nine 9️⃣ - Riddle: If three kids share a pizza equally, what fraction of the pizza does each kid get?
Answer: One-third 🍕 - Riddle: What is the sum of angles in a triangle?
Answer: 180 degrees 🔺 - Riddle: How many sides does a pentagon have?
Answer: Five 5️⃣ - Riddle: If you have a pair of twins and another set of twins, how many kids are there?
Answer: Four 👧👧👦👦 - Riddle: What is always in front of you but can’t be seen?
Answer: The future 🔮 - Riddle: What has a start but no end?
Answer: A circle 🔄 - Riddle: How many quarters make a dollar?
Answer: Four 💰 - Riddle: What is 7 minus 7 divided by 7?
Answer: Zero ➖
Hard Math Riddles with Answers
- Riddle: You have 12 coins, one of which is fake. The fake coin is either heavier or lighter. How can you determine the fake coin in just three weighings?
Answer: By dividing the coins into groups of 4 and weighing them strategically ⚖️ - Riddle: I am a three-digit number. My tens digit is five more than my ones digit. My hundreds digit is eight less than my tens digit. What number am I?
Answer: 194 🔢 - Riddle: What 5-digit number becomes the same number when multiplied by 4 and 6?
Answer: 142857 🔄 - Riddle: What is the only number that is twice the sum of its digits?
Answer: 18 🔢 - Riddle: There is a number that is one less than twice its square. What is the number?
Answer: 1 🧮 - Riddle: A bat and a ball cost $1.10. The bat costs $1 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?
Answer: 5 cents ⚾ - Riddle: If you have a rope that is 100 feet long and you cut it into pieces that are 2 feet long, how many pieces will you have?
Answer: 50 ✂️ - Riddle: The day before yesterday, I was 21. Next year, I will be 24. What is my birthday?
Answer: December 31 🎂 - Riddle: How many times does the digit 3 appear between 1 and 100?
Answer: 20 times 3️⃣ - Riddle: What number has 7 factors including 1 and itself?
Answer: 64 🧮 - Riddle: There is a basket with 5 apples. You need to distribute them among 5 people so that each person gets one apple, but one apple must remain in the basket. How do you do it?
Answer: Give one person the basket with the apple in it 🍎 - Riddle: What 3-digit number is the smallest possible value that is divisible by both 2 and 3?
Answer: 102 ➗ - Riddle: A train leaves the station at 9 AM and travels at a speed of 60 mph. Another train leaves the same station at 10 AM and travels at 75 mph. At what time will the second train catch up with the first?
Answer: 12 PM 🚂 - Riddle: What is the sum of the first 50 odd numbers?
Answer: 2500 ➕ (The sum of the first n odd numbers is n^2) - Riddle: If a hen and a half lays an egg and a half in a day and a half, how many eggs does one hen lay in one day?
Answer: 2/3 of an egg 🥚
Tricky Math Riddles with Answers
- Riddle: If it took 6 men 9 hours to build a wall, how long would it take 3 men to build the same wall?
Answer: No time, the wall is already built 🧱 - Riddle: How many seconds are there in a year?
Answer: 12 (January 2nd, February 2nd, etc.) 📅 - Riddle: A man gave one son 10 cents and another son was given 15 cents. What time is it?
Answer: 1:45, the cents represent the minutes 🕘 - Riddle: If you have two coins that add up to 30 cents, and one of them is not a nickel, what are the two coins?
Answer: A quarter and a nickel 🪙 - Riddle: What weighs more, a pound of feathers or a pound of bricks?
Answer: Neither, they both weigh a pound 🪶🧱 - Riddle: How many times can you subtract 10 from 100?
Answer: Once, because after that it’s no longer 100 ➖ - Riddle: If you have 3 apples and take away 2, how many do you have?
Answer: Two, the ones you took 🍏 - Riddle: What number, when multiplied by itself, gives the same result as when you add the number to itself?
Answer: 2 ✖️➕ - Riddle: Which weighs more, a ton of gold or a ton of silver?
Answer: Neither, both weigh a ton ⚖️ - Riddle: A boy has as many sisters as brothers, but each sister has half as many sisters as brothers. How many brothers and sisters are there in the family?
Answer: Four brothers and three sisters 👨👩👧👦 - Riddle: How many times does 7 appear in the numbers 1 to 100?
Answer: 20 times 7️⃣ - Riddle: If you have a square with side length 10 and you remove a square with side length 5 from one corner, how many sides does the resulting shape have?
Answer: 8 sides 🔲➖ - Riddle: How much dirt is there in a hole that is 3 feet deep, 6 feet long, and 4 feet wide?
Answer: None, it’s a hole 🕳️ - Riddle: What mathematical symbol can be placed between 5 and 9 to get a number greater than 5 but less than 9?
Answer: A decimal point (5.9) 🔢 - Riddle: What two whole numbers, when added together, give the same result as when multiplied together?
Answer: 2 and 2 ➕✖️
Twisted Math Riddles with Answers
- Riddle: What is the difference between a mathematician and a clock?
Answer: A clock solves problems on time, a mathematician on paper 🕰️📜 - Riddle: If a red house is made of red bricks, and a blue house is made of blue bricks, what is a greenhouse made of?
Answer: Glass 🏡 - Riddle: If you spell out numbers starting from one, what is the first number with an “a” in it?
Answer: One thousand 🔠 - Riddle: If 11 + 2 = 1, what does 9 + 5 equal?
Answer: 2 (On a clock) ⏰ - Riddle: What is the smallest positive number that is divisible by 7 and 8?
Answer: 56 ➗ - Riddle: If you buy a rooster for the purpose of laying eggs and you expect to get three eggs each day for breakfast, how many eggs will you have after three weeks?
Answer: None, roosters don’t lay eggs 🐔 - Riddle: There are 5 apples in a basket and you take away 3, how many do you have?
Answer: Three, the ones you took 🍏 - Riddle: What is full of holes but still holds water?
Answer: A sponge 🧽 - Riddle: A man gave one son 10 cents and another son was given 15 cents. What time is it?
Answer: 1:45, the cents represent the minutes 🕒 - Riddle: How do you make the number one disappear by adding just one letter?
Answer: Add a “G” and it’s “Gone” 🅶 - Riddle: If you have 4 apples and you take away 3, how many do you have?
Answer: Three, the ones you took 🍎 - Riddle: How can you lift an elephant with one hand?
Answer: You can’t, it’s impossible 🐘 - Riddle: What number do you get when you divide 30 by half and add 10?
Answer: 70 ➗➕ - Riddle: If two’s company and three’s a crowd, what are four and five?
Answer: Nine 🔢 - Riddle: What is the answer to this riddle?
Answer: This 🧩
Math Riddles for Kids
- Riddle: What has four legs in the morning, two in the afternoon, and three in the evening?
Answer: A human (crawling, walking, and with a cane) 🧓 - Riddle: What number do you get when you multiply all the numbers on a phone’s keypad?
Answer: Zero 📱 - Riddle: What number is spelled the same backward and forward?
Answer: 121 🔢 - Riddle: What two numbers add up to 10 but multiply to 24?
Answer: 6 and 4 ➕✖️ - Riddle: How many months have 28 days?
Answer: All of them 🗓️ - Riddle: What number is in the middle of 1 and 9?
Answer: 5 5️⃣ - Riddle: If you have two apples and you give one away, how many do you have left?
Answer: One 🍎 - Riddle: What is always coming but never arrives?
Answer: Tomorrow ⏳ - Riddle: How many sides does a hexagon have?
Answer: Six 6️⃣ - Riddle: What is the result of 3 times 4 divided by 6?
Answer: Two ✖️➗ - Riddle: What goes up but never comes down?
Answer: Your age 🎂 - Riddle: How many times does 3 go into 15?
Answer: Five times 3️⃣➗ - Riddle: What is the smallest prime number?
Answer: Two 2️⃣ - Riddle: What comes after 7 and before 9?
Answer: Eight 8️⃣ - Riddle: How many sides does a triangle have?
Answer: Three 🔺
Best Math Riddles for Adults
- Riddle: A man has $100. He spends $10, then earns $20. How much does he have now?
Answer: $110 💵 - Riddle: What comes after 7 and before 9?
Answer: 8 8️⃣ - Riddle: If two’s company and three’s a crowd, what are four and five?
Answer: Nine 🔢 - Riddle: How can you make seven even without subtraction?
Answer: Remove the S ✂️ - Riddle: What is half of two plus two?
Answer: Three 🧠 - Riddle: What number is three times the sum of its digits?
Answer: 27 ➗ - Riddle: If you have a rope that is 100 feet long and you cut it into pieces that are 2 feet long, how many pieces will you have?
Answer: 50 ✂️ - Riddle: The day before yesterday, I was 21. Next year, I will be 24. What is my birthday?
Answer: December 31 🎂 - Riddle: If you multiply me by any other number, the answer will always remain the same. What number am I?
Answer: Zero 0️⃣ - Riddle: What is 7 minus 7 divided by 7?
Answer: Zero ➖ - Riddle: What is the smallest positive number that is divisible by 7 and 8?
Answer: 56 ➗ - Riddle: How many quarters make a dollar?
Answer: Four 💰 - Riddle: What is the sum of angles in a triangle?
Answer: 180 degrees 🔺 - Riddle: What 3-digit number is the smallest possible value that is divisible by both 2 and 3?
Answer: 102 ➗ - Riddle: If a hen and a half lays an egg and a half in a day and a half, how many eggs does one hen lay in one day?
Answer: 2/3 of an egg 🥚
Conclusion
Math riddles are a fun and engaging way to challenge the mind, offering a blend of logic, arithmetic, and creative problem-solving. Whether you’re looking for easy puzzles to get started, tricky challenges to bend your brain
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