Quote:
Originally Posted by oojay
There was a thread similar to this on here before, and it came down to what people were actually taught in school as to what were the correct order of operations (both of which had equally substantial and supportive material and arguments)
Besides BODMAS, there was PEMDAS
Parentheses
Exponents
Multiplication
Division
Addition
Subtraction
Using this method, one would get:
6 - 1 x 0 + 2 / 2
6 - (1 x 0) + 2 / 2 [Multiplication]
= 6 - 0 + (2 / 2) [Division]
= 6 - 0 + 1
= 6 - (0 + 1) [Addition]
= 6 - 1 [Subtraction]
= 5
All the discussions basically amounted to exercises in futility. No agreement could be made on whether once the equation was simplified, if addition always took precedence over subtraction [the AS is PEMDAS], and multiplication over division [the MD in PEMDAS], regardless of their left-to-right order in the equation.
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It's weird how something as logical and standardized as simple math can be taught in such different ways as to make it a useless concept in any broad, standardized sense. It seems to me that placing priority with an operation of the same rank over another of the same does not actually have any more value for standardization than working from left to right. Working from left to right after the equation is simplified seems more intuitive in terms of how the equation was written as an actual tangible problem.
When I say 6 - 4 + 1, I may be describing 6 dollars in my wallet, where 4 are removed, then 1 is added. It would make sense to work from left to right, and would describe a result of 3 dollars in my wallet. But having a standard that always places priority of addition over subtraction would result in me having -1 dollars in my wallet.
Using a standard of A before S, one could not describe such a transaction with an equation. Therefore, having such a standard is limiting.
Using left to right when dealing with A and S, however, allows an equation to be written in a logical sequence when describing real concepts.
So, it seems to me that A before S standardizes a method of simply arriving at an arbitrary number in the same manner for any operation, whereas left to right standardizes a method of arriving at a number with respect to how the equation was written to describe a concept and perform an actual function.
If I had a choice about which I'd utilize, it would most certainly be the latter method.