48÷2(9+3) =

[telos]

wow... just wow...

The person who wrote the equation wrote it in the most concise format and any one who knows the same rules as the author can solve it. The rules are set in stone. There is no room for interpretation. Adding an extra symbol to make it more clear in this case might not make for a messy equation but adding unnecessary crap can make an equation twice as long as it needs to be for any one who knows the rules and follows them.

 

[Xapz]

 

[hyung]

with an X, it becomes a simple left-to-right.
Without the X, distribution takes priority.

lol

 

[bEbOp]

Order of Operations
The Order of Operations: PEMDAS
Order of operations - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I'm in the 2 camp. The way I was taught and the way the equation is written would require the 2 to be distributed into the parenthesis first, or to be multiplied by the result of the equation inside the parenthesis prior to the division taking place.

However, wikipedia states that no clear convention exists on wether placing a number next to a parenthesis indicates grouping or not. So, subject to interpretation of that placement, both answers are right.


Cliffs:
OP needs to clarify the notation.

 

[Reno]

friend of mine who works at NASA said the following, which made me LOL:

Your NASA buddy is assuming that left-to-right means anything at all. If he ran in to the equation in question at work and didn't immediately kick it back to whoever came up with it, it would be appropriate for him to be fired.

Analyzing this is stupid. The equation is insufficiently clear.

 

[CERVICAL-KREMS]

i say 2, but i'm terrible at math

 

[Xapz]

According to a turbonerd I'm speaking with, the foundation of this argument is whether you value implied multiplication over explicit multiplicaiton.
...
This guy has a lot of level 85s

 

[Lord Elessar]

According to a turbonerd I'm speaking with, the foundation of this argument is whether you value implied multiplication over explicit multiplicaiton.
...
This guy has a lot of level 85s

is he a scarab lord? if so his word is law.

 

[Xapz]

God I hope I haven't been getting trolled this whole time.

 

[telos]

why would there be a difference in implied over explicit? At that point why would either be more important than the parenthesis?

I'm curious to read about this.

 

[Xapz]

is he a scarab lord? if so his word is law.

I'm not even joking when I say this:
He was pissed when Cataclysm came out because there weren't added character slots.... because he already had maxed the # of max-level characters on a certain server....

 

[aNimAL]

two ?? in a row is appealing to me

one ? is ugly but ??

forget about it

 

[Xapz]

why would there be a difference in implied over explicit? At that point why would either be more important than the parenthesis?

I'm curious to read about this.

I had been taught growing up (by non-exceptional, but not bad teachers) to "respect" the parentheses and to resolve them FIRST. I have followed that rule and only today have I ever found conflict.

 

[DropSquad]

C#, Wolfram Alpha, Google, PHP, Perl, Ruby, AND GENERAL KNOWLEDGE say its 288.

Xaps is a full on retard. The world is fucked if this many people can't do simple arithmetic.

 

[trop]

the writing of the equation is def throwing people off. take for example...

48÷(2x + 2b)

if x = 9 and b = 3 then the answer is 2. that doesn't mean much since that is not what the original equation was so lets do some factoring

48÷2(x+b)

because of the level of math classes the vast majority of people take they will write 2(x+b) and not (2(x+b)) so I think people are seeing 2(9+3) as a factor

 

[aNimAL]

 

[Bughead]

The correct answer is that they're both "correct" as has been stated many times before.

One answer isn't any more correct than the other, it just depends on what rules you're using.

If you get two different calculators (using different sets of rules) and put this into it, you'll get both answers.

 

[Rampancy]

C#, Wolfram Alpha, Google, PHP, Perl, Ruby, AND GENERAL KNOWLEDGE say its 288.

Xaps is a full on retard. The world is fucked if this many people can't do simple arithmetic.

Yet Wolfram Alpha says a(divided by sign)b(c+d) equals a/(b(c+d))

Why is this

 

[SKnight]

I hate the division symbol because it confuses kids. Express everything as a fraction, and they'll never have trouble. I believe that the ÷ sign is a vestigial structure from years past, and is going to go the way of elementary children learning how to write in cursive. At one time, they were useful skills but now are pretty much useless and a waste of class time.

Agreed. I don't think I've seen that symbol past 4th grade.

Also, I've been seeing this damn equation everywhere on the internet.

 

[officer]

you cannot interpret math
this equation is as straightfoward as it gets