At first glance, this math puzzle looks almost too easy: 36 − 36 ÷ (6 × 6) = ? 👀 Many people immediately see “36 − 36” and jump to 0. But that’s exactly the trap. The expression contains multiple operations, so we can’t simply subtract the two visible 36s.

The first step is to solve what’s inside the parentheses: 6 × 6 = 36. That changes the expression to 36 − 36 ÷ 36. Now we still have division and subtraction, and the standard order of operations tells us that division must be completed before subtraction.

So we calculate 36 ÷ 36 = 1. The expression is now much simpler: 36 − 1. Only then do we perform the subtraction. This is where the tempting answer of 0 falls apart. We are not actually subtracting 36 from 36; we are subtracting the result of 36 ÷ 36 from the first 36. 🧠

Following the steps carefully gives us: 6 × 6 = 36, then 36 ÷ 36 = 1, and finally 36 − 1 = 35. 🎯 The correct answer is therefore 35. The trick is not difficult mathematics—it’s resisting the urge to calculate by appearance instead of following the correct order of operations.