Maths question for 14 year olds baffles parents as it 'doesn't make sense'

A maths question for kids has been baffling parents as it 'doesn't make any sense'.

Desperately searching for a solution, an adult took to Reddit to say it's left them feeling "stumped". They hoped there'd be a nerd on hand to help them out.

The post read: "This is a friend's daughter's ninth-grade math homework. I've spent way too much time on this and am getting nowhere. I would post my work, but at this point, it's just a bunch of convoluted nonsense. I keep coming back to the same overcomplicated equations for each variable, so if I'm wrong at least it's uniform.

"I know this is a system of equations, I'm a sophomore towards an electrical engineering degree, but for the life of me, I can't figure this out."

So will you be able to solve it? The problem in question is titled 'Back to school equations'. It asks kids to work out the value of a bag, notebook, and pen through the information provided.

The worksheet shows:

• Bag + notebook x bag = 40

• Two pens + one pen x bag = 48

• Notebook + one pen + two pens = 33

• One pen + notebook x bag = [BLANK]

• Bag = [BLANK]. Notebook = [BLANK]. Pen = [BLANK]

Unfortunately, responders weren't really able to clear things up. Many took to the comments section to reply with their own theories.

One said: "This is horribly written because it suggests that we are supposed to treat the two markers together as different from 2 * a single marker." Another user agreed, adding: "Yeah, that's pretty tedious."

A third user said: "Who is using cutesy pictures for 9th grade algebra? The problem is much more clear when presented as a system of equations. Which doing more than 2 variables is tricky enough without needing to translate pictures. Especially the unclear 2 markers! Geez."

One more user added: "Let’s make everything variables for simplicity: x + yx = 40. 2z + zx = 48. y + 3z = 33. So y = 33 - 3z, and replacing y in the first equation we get x + x (33-3z) = 40 -> 34x - 3zx = 40. Solving for z gives us z = (34/3) - 40/(3x). We can then input that into the second equation, and it’s a pain to solve but gives us x = 4. From there, we have that 4 + 4y = 40 -> 4y = 36 -> y = 9. From there, we have that 9 + 3z = 33 -> 3z = 24 -> z = 8. Therefore x = 4, y = 9, and z = 8, and z + y * x = 44."

It sounds like they solved it, but we still have no idea what that all means!