if they used brackets then its dead simple, its the issue when brackets aren't used... going on the "supposed methods", its not officially covered fyi programming implementations like excel screw it up (well not exactly, but just interpretation of negations takes precedence over exponents), so -3^2 (without the brackets) still comes up at 9 and yes... get over it and use logic (assuming they have any...)
Parenthesis always has first precedence, and Multiply and Divide share the same precedence. ..and it's Left to Right notation. Left to right... left to right...
I'm reading this off my textbook: It says removing brackets is an agreement and 4X5/2 is a shorthand for (4X(5/2)) rather than ((4X5)/2) This agreement results in a shorthand notation. I think it's just a shorthand that my book uses because they don't want to use brackets for all formulas.
aaargh im confused now ;( 48/2(12) division and multiplying have the same priority level, so work from left to right => 48/2 = 24. 24x12 = 288. So whats the answer?
according to what i was taught (in uk) and using bodmas the answer's 2. like somebody that posted earlier... to get to 288 you are treating the equation as (48/2)(9+3) and this is exactly what a calculator does if you simply type in the equation. but most calculators will ignore the priority rules thus giving you the wrong answer - most calculators will process calculations in the order you input, i.e. left to right. hopefully most of you here know not to completely trust a calculator, it can't help you with user error. having the whole thing on a single line obfuscates things. proper notation for this equation should be: ___48___ 2(9 + 3) and i think everyone can agree on what the answer to that is!
Wrong. ___48___ is 48÷[2(9+3)] which is completely different from 48÷2(9+3) 2(9 + 3) The original equation can only be rewritten as 48 ÷ 2 x (9+3) and according to PEMDAS, it solves as Parenthesis: 48 ÷ 2 x (12) Exponents: None Multiplication & Division from left to right: 24 x (12) Multiplications & Division from left to right again: 288 BODMAS also follows the same rules as PEMDAS -- http://www.mathsisfun.com/operation-order-bodmas.html The only way you can get 2 is if you use 'implied multiplications' which isn't something that is generally taught at this basic level of math. More details here -- http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/48293
I voted for 288 based on what I was taught in school in Australia. Brackets, Division, Multiplication, Addition, Subtraction (if their is a conflict in priority, left to right)
