Quote:
Originally Posted by oojay
6/2*(1+2) = 6/2*(3) = 6/6 = 1
Parentheses
Exponents (and Roots)
Multiplication
Division
Addition
Subtraction
This is like sixth grade math guys, seriously.
Mathematical Order Of Operations |
oojay has a good
wiki link and comes up with the better answer, in my opinion, although his method relies on a mnemonic which shouldn`t be thoughtlessly applied to every case.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MoonlitSunshine
The answer is you need more parentheses.
... you cannot define an operator or it's inverse taking "precedence". In fact, you cannot define any operator taking precedence over another, as that is the realm of ambiguous convention. You might as well just say 1+1 = 3 while you're at it. The only true mathematical description of precedence is through the use of parentheses, as that is their explicit function. The fact is that the order in which operators are evaluated is a dangerous form of shortcut which honestly shouldn't be taught.
Conclusion: The statement is ambiguous. In order to have a "true" answer, another pair of parentheses needs to be added.
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I think
MoonlitSunshine has the clearest analysis so far.
I can`t remember what I was taught (in England) about precedence and order of operations, but we were taught to use parenthesis to avoid ambiguity.
So, if I had wanted the answer to be 9, I would have written :
(6/2)(1+2) = 3 x 3 = 9
and if I had wanted the answer to be 1, I would have written :
6/2(1+3) = 6/(2 x 3) = 1
So,it`s an interesting question,
EvilChuck, but my answer to the guy would be," Go back and write what you mean properly."
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