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Our public schools suck! Adults that cant do math...

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It is easy to get this problem wrong. Many in this thread are educated and did get it wrong. Not because they are stupid but probably because how often do they use this? However, there IS a wrong answer and 1 is it. So if you think this problem is dumb, fine, but that doesn't make it any less accurate to say 9 is the proper answer. And the only correct one.
 
SheHateMe said:
Watch out and change your answer before Dr. Pizza insults you.

And I agree with you, since the problem is actually written as "6/2(1+2)" it appears to be a fraction and I do not think I am mistaken in seeing the problem written that way.
Click to expand...




Just can't admit you're wrong can you? 🙄
 
Doppel said:
First, earlier you said at least you stood by your answer when it was wrong. This isn't a virtue. Then you agreed you were wrong. This is a virtue. Now you are backtracking?

The only reason you are seeing the problem written in the way you do is because you still do not believe that the order of operations is a real thing and explicitly says you are wrong. It is like me saying 1+1 is 11 because I see the + as not mathematical addition but as a string append.
Click to expand...

1 + 1 = 10.

I assume that you meant binary since you didn't explicitly give the base.
 
it's sad how many people on ATOT fail at math too. this is supposed to be a nerd forum.

the answer is clearly 9 based on basic math rules that you should have learned in 4th or 5th grade.

EDIT:

those of you getting 1 for your answer are doing it wrong, and here is another way to get 1 which you can clearly see is the wrong way to do it.

6/2(1+2)
6/(2+4)
6/6
1

which is the same result as those of you doing it this way, which is also wrong

6/2(1+2)
6/2(3)
6/6
1

when you look at it the first way you can clearly see the order of operations is wrong, since you aren't doing what is in the parenthesis first and still getting the same result as the 2nd way to get 1 as the answer.

6/2(1+2) = 6/2*(1+2) = 9
 
Last edited:
Doppel said:
First, earlier you said at least you stood by your answer when it was wrong. This isn't a virtue. Then you agreed you were wrong. This is a virtue. Now you are backtracking?

The only reason you are seeing the problem written in the way you do is because you still do not believe that the order of operations is a real thing and explicitly says you are wrong. It is like me saying 1+1 is 11 because I see the + as not mathematical addition but as a string append.
Click to expand...

I'm not backtracking. Other people also thought it was 1. And now a new person. Can I comment with you folks breathing down my back?

Who said I didn't think the order of operations was a real thing? Did I ever say there was no such thing? Did I?


I'm delighted to know that a person can make a mistake on AT and constantly have other people harp on it after admitting wrong doing. But, what can I do? I always got B's and C's in Math, I don't have a perfect record like Dr. Pizza.
 
Last edited:
darkewaffle said:
I'm more inclined to blame students than schools when it comes to basics.

And I agree that the answer is 1, though technically I think the order of operations would distribute 2 into the parentheses first, then do the addition inside the parentheses, and then divide.

Basically it depends if you interpret the distributive property as part of the parentheses order or part of the multiplication order, I believe I was taught the former.
Click to expand...

you can't distribute the 2 into the (1+2) in the parenthesis because of the / before it, and the / comes before the * that is implied by the 2 being right next to the parenthesis.

if the problem was, for instance,

6+2(1+2)

then you could do that, because you would get the same answer either way since the multiplication between the 2 and what results from the parenthesis comes before the addition outside of the parenthesis AND multiplication, due to order of operations.

6+2(1+2)
6+2(3)
6+6
12

6+2(1+2)
6+(2+4)
6+(6)
12
 
The question was drawn up to stir shit. The problem should have been formulated as (6/2)(1+2)
or
6/(2(1+2))

Not 6/2(1+2) and any teachers who writes out a problem like this should be flogged. That is all.

This was an exercise on human perception and not necessarily how to use order of operations although its's surprising some didn't know left to right.
 
Red Squirrel said:
I thought it was 1 too but guess if you strictly go with order of operation it kinda makes sense that it's 9... made a C++ program to test and sure enough it's 9. I was treating the division more like left side divided by right side, but guess that's not how it works as division is same priority as multiplication.
Click to expand...

HAHAHA! The fact that you had to make a C++ program to solve this

speaks volumes!

Note: I'm not calling you stupid. If you can program in C++ you're no dummy.

But I am calling your school stupid.
 
darkxshade said:
The question was drawn up to stir shit. The problem should have been formulated as (6/2)(1+2)
or
6/(2(1+2))

Not 6/2(1+2) and any teachers who writes out a problem like this should be flogged. That is all.

This was an exercise on human perception and not necessarily how to use order of operations although its's surprising some didn't know left to right.
Click to expand...

If by flogged you mean promoted, yes. You just don't get it do you? Oh you get the problem, (the mathematical one) you just don't get THE problem. (the political, edumacation wan)

If every teacher would pose this problem and FAIL every student that gets it wrong, that'd be great.

After teaching it correctly first of course.

There is no ambiguity, it's not a confusing problem. It's a very simple problem with a simple answer. When you type this into any computer program does the program spit out "be more specific"? NO. The problem isn't the problem, the problem is THE problem....with our education system.

Get it?
 
darkxshade said:
The question was drawn up to stir shit. The problem should have been formulated as (6/2)(1+2)
or
6/(2(1+2))

Not 6/2(1+2) and any teachers who writes out a problem like this should be flogged. That is all.

This was an exercise on human perception and not necessarily how to use order of operations although its's surprising some didn't know left to right.
Click to expand...

the 2 ways you think it should have been written are not the same as the equation in the op. it's a totally different problem.
 
s0me0nesmind1 said:
The division symbol is the problem, it doesn't dictate if everything thereafter is on the bottom of the fraction, or if the fraction is separate.
Click to expand...

Red Storm said:
I can totally understand the confusion, if the division symbol was just / then it would be no question.
Click to expand...

The symbol isn't the problem. Both of those symbols stand for division. It makes no difference which symbol you use. / or ÷

Does it make a difference if you use * or X for multiplication?
 
purbeast0 said:
the 2 ways you think it should have been written are not the same as the equation in the op. it's a totally different problem.
Click to expand...

And it was totally solvable the way it was written.

Now, did I ever see an engineering math problem that used the division sign over the "/" fractions sign to denote divison? No. But I clearly knew what it ment.

And any problem can be written in any way, as long as it makes logical sense (which it totally does as we are not breaking a cardinal rule of a non complete parentheses or dividing by 0)
 
Red Storm said:
When you write the actual problem verbatim in Google "6÷2(1+2)", it changes the formatting into "(6/2)*(1+2)"
Click to expand...

Only thing I would question in the way google changes it to is the "*" sign.

Because every math probelm once out of high school I covered would never use "*" to multiply 2 parentheses because it is already infered they multiply with each other.

hence I would see it as (6/2)(1+2).
 
6/2(1+2) should never be written this way because it's ambiguous, that's why you only write it like this in calculators, IF you know about the rule. If you use a computer, you're supposed to know how it interprets the signs.
Still, that doesn't mean that if a human interprets it as 6/(2(1+2)) then it's wrong, because it's ambiguous.

Most people never use calculators that allow to write in whole equations, and use more brackets if the writing is ambiguous.
I understand that high schools don't organize a class to explain this thing because honestly, it's useless to most people. The others will just use the useful brackets.

If you think of calculator conventions as something obvious to everyone around you, you're being an elitist nerd.
 
diesbudt said:
Only thing I would question in the way google changes it to is the "*" sign.

Because every math probelm once out of high school I covered would never use "*" to multiply 2 parentheses because it is already infered they multiply with each other.

hence I would see it as (6/2)(1+2).
Click to expand...

well as seen in this thread, apparently people don't know that the * is implied, otherwise people woudln't be getting 1 as their answer.
 
purbeast0 said:
the 2 ways you think it should have been written are not the same as the equation in the op. it's a totally different problem.
Click to expand...


I understand that but let me explain it in another way. I know the original equation in the OP is not the same, I'm just saying the way it was written was formulated horribly. I'm saying maybe some of those who answered 1 could've been too smart for their own good. Humans are not machines so there are multiple ways of approaching a problem. I can make the argument that if someone approached the problem *first* from a critical and logical standpoint, they may have looked at the problem and came to the conclusion that since (1+2) was encapsulated and 6/2 wasn't that the problem was simplified into one line from

6
-
2(1+2)

whereas others(the majority) approached the problem flat out using ooo, then sure, you'd have 9.

That's where the ambiguity comes from and it does exist.
 
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