GCSE's getting harder causes Paul Dacre's head to explode.

or

"Slightly hard" GCSE Maths Question causes outrage...


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-33017299



The actual question was:

Hannah has 6 orange sweets and some yellow sweets.
Overall, she has n sweets.
The probability of her taking 2 orange sweets is 1/3.

Prove that: n^2-n-90=0




There are six orange sweets and n sweets overall. If she takes one, there is
a 6/n chance of getting and orange sweet. When she takes one, there is one
less orange sweet and one less sweet overall.

If she took another orange sweet, the probability would be
(6-1)/(n-1)=5/n-1. Now, you have to find the probability if she gets two
orange sweets so you simply times the two fractions: 6/n * 5/n-1 = 30/n^2-n.

It tells us the probability of two orange sweets is 1/3 which means
1/3=30/n^2-n.

We need to make the denominators the same so simply times 1/3 by 30/30 which
would equal 30/90. if 30/90 = 30/n^2-n, then n^2-n=90. if n^2-n=90 then
n^2-n-90 will equal zero.

Mike
(with a little help from Google)

Which being in the real 2015 world is exactly what I would do if this were a
real problem, so who need to pass the exam?