University Challenge fans stumped by mind-bogglingly difficult question – but can you solve it?
UNIVERSITY Challenge fans have been left bamboozled by this tricky question – but can you work it out?
Some of the country's greatest brains have been put to the test on the legendary BBC quiz show throughout the years, but one question has always confounded them.
Jeremy Paxman hosted the show from 1994 to May 2023 and below is one of his most difficult questions from the show.
Are you ready to have a go at answering the puzzling question?
The starter for ten question is: "The atomic number of sulfur is 16, what is the sum of the atomic numbers of the four elements whose symbols spell the word snob?"
This has been dubbed one of the show's most challenging questions, so take your time, there's no rush.
The answer is going to appear shortly, so if you're still debating it, stop scrolling too far.
Legendary University Challenge quiz host, Jeremy asked this question during episode 46 of the BBC show, in the match between Wolfson College from Cambridge and Balliol College in Oxford.
Not only were the participants' mental mathematical skills put to the test with this question, they also needed knowledge of the periodic table.
The first three letters S, N and O - are easily identified as sulfer, nitrogen and oxygen.
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However some people may be stumped by the letter B - which stands for the element boron, a metalloid with properties of both metals and non metals.
Once the elements are identified, the next challenge is to work out the atomic number of each element- a far from easy task if you don't know your periodic table.
The students were given the number of sulfur as 16, but still needed nitrogen, oxygen and boron.
Tasked with identifying the number and then quickly adding them up in their head, Goldman from Balliol College, Oxford, answered 37 before team member Yang from Wolfson College, Cambridge, guessed 31.
However both answers were incorrect - with neither side bagging the ten points on offer.
Can you work it out without us giving you the numbers?
If you need a little help here's the numbers you need.
It is 16 for sulfer, 7 for nitrogen, 8 for oxygen, and finally 5 for boron.
Now you've got to be quick to calculate that lot in your head.
What did you get?
The answer is now going to be revealed, drum roll please.
It all adds up to 36.
If you enjoyed figuring that out then here's another one that you can try to test your knowledge.
We recently shared this question from the BBC Two show: "The packaging for a perfume launched in the 1930s by the designer Elsa Schiaparelli is the origin of the two-word name of which colour, described in a contemporary publication as a 'crude, cruel shade of rose'."
Incorrect answers "Chanel Pink" from Imperial College London and "Flame Red" from Oxford's Balliol College were given.
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So can you work it out?
The answer is actually shocking pink.