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48÷2(9+3) =

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48÷2(9+3) =

  • ?

  • 288

  • 2

Results are only viewable after voting.
rchiu said:
Geeks would say 288 and laugh at people who answered 2.

People who deal with real problems in real world know writing equation that way is dumb and simply asking for trouble.
Click to expand...
Well, since someone let the cat out of the bag and necroed the thread, I'm going to point out again, equations have those funny little symbols in them... two parallel lines above one another, something like this: =
So, yes, it's dumb to write an equation without an equals sign. 😛

And, while Zeze is more or less correct, I'll point out again that any mathematician worth anything would not, as rchiu has said, write an expression as ambiguously as that one. Zeze and others don't seem to think it's ambiguous. Once again, implied multiplication is often given priority over other multiplication and division. E.g., 4x^3/2x^2 is generally evaluated to be 2x, not 2x^5 as an anal attentive fixation to BEDMAS or PEMDAS would result in. The 2 in front of the parenthesis is an implied multiplication. I wouldn't begrudge anyone who wanted to interpret that expression as meaning the 2 should be multiplied by the 12 before the division.
 
206483_1776491504605_1608886476_1688467_6580770_n.jpg



(Just remember, Matt Damon can barely say his own name in Team America...he may not be the best tutor when it comes to 4th grade mathematics.)
 
I say it goes like this
48÷2(9+3)
48÷2(12)
48÷24
2
Because that's how I was taught order of operations, I asked my current math teacher and she agreed because a number directly next to another number in parentheses should be multiplied first.
But, OoO also works like this;
48÷2(9+3)
48÷2(12)
24(12)
288

However, Wolfram|Alpha (the best thing ever) says 288, by making it one huge fraction
(48*(9+3))÷2
(48*12)÷2
576÷2
288

I personally think 2 is the correct answer, though both are actually correct.
 
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I'm not good at math, but I'm going to say 2.

I consider the 2(9+3) is a single variable. So solve that first, which comes up to 24. Not sure if that is right way of thinking though.
 
Bubble,

Your math teacher said that? You should transfer schools. Multiply and divide have equal precedence so the operations then go left to right.

THERE IS NO DEBATE HERE!
 
Last edited:
Bubbleawsome said:
I say it goes like this
48÷2(9+3)
48÷2(12)
48÷24
2
Because that's how I was taught order of operations,
Click to expand...

Parentheses

Exponents

Multiplication and Division

Addition and Subtraction

Multiplication doesn't get any kind of priority over division.
Addition doesn't get any kind of priority over subtraction.

When you have to decide whether to multiply first or divide first, evaluate from left to right.

When you have to decide whether to add first or subtract first, evaluate from left to right.
 
Bubbleawsome said:
I say it goes like this
48÷2(9+3)
48÷2(12)
48÷24
2
Because that's how I was taught order of operations, I asked my current math teacher and she agreed because a number directly next to another number in parentheses should be multiplied first.
But, OoO also works like this;
48÷2(9+3)
48÷2(12)
24(12)
288

However, Wolfram|Alpha (the best thing ever) says 288, by making it one huge fraction
(48*(9+3))÷2
(48*12)÷2
576÷2
288

I personally think 2 is the correct answer, though both are actually correct.
Click to expand...

you should find a new school.
 
^ a variable next to a number implies the number will be multiple by the value of the variable.
DrPizza said:
Out of curiosity then, what's 8x/4x when x=7?
/devil's advocate
Click to expand...

98

Again, the answer to the top question is 288

I know both of these because I put the full equation into excel

And excel is the definition of math.
 
DrPizza said:
Out of curiosity then, what's 8x/4x when x=7?
/devil's advocate
Click to expand...

When dealing with equations like this, you solve for the equation, THEN solve for X. The answer is

8x/4x = 2

The reason for 2 is because you are dealing with term math first before trying to resolve x. In this case the terms drop out the X and it doesn't matter what X was. However...

If you are given the equation of
8(7)/4(7)

Then you solve in order of operations which is 98. The operation for resolving variables is always last in the previous equation with X for a reason. With this second equation you can't just drop out the 7's and must solve from left to right in order of operations.

There is no devil's advocation here to this old problem. This is why the answer is 288 here for which I explained all those years ago.

48÷2(9+3) = 288
(48÷2x where x = 9+3) = 2

The resolution of X in this case is the last order of operation. Which is where the confusion of multiplicative association when it comes to algebraic terms confuses people. Because 2x is the term, you can't initially resolve you are left with 48 OVER 2x as your resolution before the insertion of X's value.

But LOL on the thread necro.

Edit fix a goof on my part for the term math explanation.
 
Last edited:
HumblePie said:
When dealing with equations like this, you solve for the equation, THEN solve for X. The answer is

8x/4x = 2x

Then you solve for x which if given to be 7 becomes 2(7) = 14.

If you are given the equation of
8(7)/4(7)

Then you solve in order of operations which is 98. The operation for resolving variables is always LAST. This is because in equation where you have stuff like 2x that is a specific term unto itself, not a multiplication operation yet. The term is (2x) not 2(x) because you can't actually use x to multiply by yet.

There is no devil's advocation here to this old problem. This is why the answer is 288 here for which I explained all those years ago.

48÷2(9+3) = 288
(48÷2x where x = 9+3) = 2

The resolution of X in this case is the last order of operation. Which is where the confusion of multiplicative association when it comes to algebraic terms confuses people. Because 2x is the term, you can't initially resolve you are left with 48 OVER 2x as your resolution before the insertion of X's value.

But LOL on the thread necro.
Click to expand...

Algebra is easy.

latest
 
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