Solve 48÷2(9+3)

[a500lbgorilla]

Yet every single one of us agree that the order of operations is BEMDAS, or brackets (inside), exponents, multiplication and division left-to-right, addition and subtraction left to right.

It doesn't matter what we agree, you fool! If we insert only one person who doesn't agree, then where are we? There is no truth between which order of operations is correct. That is the point. I am filling with frustration.

What you are saying then is that 24(12) is not the same as 24*(12), and that somehow multiplication via the juxtaposition against brackets takes precedence over regular multiplication and division. But if you are going to take the position that there is no authority to decide this, how is it justifiable to add such an arbitrary wrinkle such that a simple problem can be interpreted in more than one way? That doesn't make any sense.

Again, I am not saying this. I am saying that others are saying this. Wow, please read the freaking thread.

The rules of english and maths are quite different I presume.. in this example I believe they actually *are* both correct.. but don't quote me on that; I'm not particularly sure.

Duh, it's an analogy. I'm glad that you think they're both correct because it's a good analogy to what we're talking about right now. Both 2 and 288 are correct. More correct is that the original problem is ambiguous.

*This begs another interesting question. Where specifically are you arguing that multiplication via juxtaposition should be in the order of operations?

From the guy in this thread who said he was taught multiplication by juxta was the proper order of operations. I went through the internet and discovered that yes some people had learned that way and I further found that there was no way to say either way was more correct.

[Lukie]

It doesn't matter what we agree, you fool! If we insert only one person who doesn't agree, then where are we? There is no truth between which order of operations is correct. That is the point. I am filling with frustration.

If there is only one person who doesn't agree, we call them a fool and nothing ever comes of it. When something like this is split roughly 50/50, we get threads like this all over the internet

Duh, it's an analogy. I'm glad that you think they're both correct because it's a good analogy to what we're talking about right now. Both 2 and 288 are correct. More correct is that the original problem is ambiguous.

Why are you making an analogy between english and math? You are very well smart enough to know that they are governed by very different sets of rules. The comparison is that there is disagreement on both sides and many people think both are correct. Beyond that there is no proper comparison.

[a500lbgorilla]

Why are you making an analogy between english and math? You are very well smart enough to know that they are governed by very different sets of rules. The comparison is that there is disagreement on both sides and many people think both are correct. Beyond that there is no proper comparison.

Light (colors) and sound are governed by different rules but I can draw a strong analogy between the two.

[a500lbgorilla]

Light (colors) and sound are governed by different rules but I can draw a strong analogy between the two.

Which is to say, order of operations is well analogous to rules of comma placement. There's no way to prove the proper order of operations, it just comes down to what is the standard. And in this problem, there is no standard.

[Lukie]

Which is to say, order of operations is well analogous to rules of comma placement. There's no way to prove the proper order of operations, it just comes down to what is the standard. And in this problem, there is no standard.

I'll defer to you on the comma placement thing.. I really don't know.. I've always used thing 1, thing 2, and thing 3 but was under the impression that ommitting that last comma is fine as well.

The point is that it's very well possible that exactly one math method is correct and both english methods are correct, or vise versa.. there's no real correlation.

[Lukie]

The person forming the statement should have made it more clear which answer they intended. Because they failed, the problem is ambiguous. If you've ever read a peer reviewed engineering or physics paper, you see that they take great lengths to make sure there is only one interpretation of their work because of this.

I find this very interesting.. although I'm not really sure how relevant it is. There's certainly nothing wrong with adding more brackets, and given that we'll say half the people think each way is correct, it seems very prudent to remove all confusion whatsoever even if it isn't necessary (and I'm arguing that is exactly the case).

48/2(9+3) can easily be re-written as (48/2)(9+3) but writing it as 48/(2(9+3)) completely changes the equation. And I can hear your blood boiling right now so for that I apologize

[a500lbgorilla]

I find this very interesting.. although I'm not really sure how relevant it is. There's certainly nothing wrong with adding more brackets, and given that we'll say half the people think each way is correct, it seems very prudent to remove all confusion whatsoever even if it isn't necessary (and I'm arguing that is exactly the case).

48/2(9+3) can easily be re-written as (48/2)(9+3) but writing it as 48/(2(9+3)) completely changes the equation. And I can hear your blood boiling right now so for that I apologize

My blood calms.

[a500lbgorilla]

I'll defer to you on the comma placement thing.. I really don't know.. I've always used thing 1, thing 2, and thing 3 but was under the impression that ommitting that last comma is fine as well.

The point is that it's very well possible that exactly one math method is correct and both english methods are correct, or vise versa.. there's no real correlation.

If you are saying that exactly one math method is correct, you are incorrect.

Search for the mathematical proof or Mathematical ruling on which order of operations is most correct and you'll discover why.