Maths Puzzles

What is the expanded value of (a - x)(b - x)(c - x)...(z - x)?

Hint: try writing the question down in full, without the ellipsis.



Solution:
This is just an evil trick question, based on the idea that in maths people are used to seeing x as being a variable to solve for in an equation, whilst a, b, c are usually treated as constants. The answer is, of course, zero, since one of the brackets contains (x-x). If you want to be truly pedantic, there are some values that do not equal zero when multiplied by zero (infinity being the primary example) but using any such value will give you an undefined solution.

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