Viral brain teasers on the internet often leave even highly intelligent people scratching their heads.

Solving puzzles is not only a fun way to test your intelligence, but it also helps measure your critical thinking skills and your ability to make quick, accurate decisions under pressure.

If you enjoy challenging puzzles, take a close look at the image above and see if you can answer this question:

How many triangles are hidden inside the inverted triangle?

At the top of the image, there is an upright triangle. Inside it, you can clearly see four smaller triangles, making a total of five triangles in the upper figure.

Below it is an inverted triangle with a question mark beside it. Your challenge is to carefully count every triangle inside it—both large and small—and determine the total number.

This puzzle isn’t as difficult as it may seem. The trick is to examine the image carefully and count every triangle you can find, regardless of its size.

Have you figured out the answer?

If you’re still unsure, don’t worry. The correct answer is below.

Correct Answer

The inverted triangle contains four large triangles and four small triangles, along with the outer triangle itself.

That makes a total of 9 triangles.