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288 or 2 ?

  • 288

    Votes: 154 48.4%
  • 2

    Votes: 164 51.6%

  • Total voters
    318
Status
Not open for further replies.
Age and maturity are two different things, that there is a correlation between them doesn't explain why some people see things differently.

Why do you say that half are wrong?
The poll is showing otherwise.

Ι am not sure what you mean, half have one result and the other half the other result, if we accept there's only one right notation (formalism) for this, half of the people are wrong that's what I am saying.
 
Please - parentheses
Excuse - exponent
My - multiplication
Dear - division
Aunt - addition
Sally - subtraction

48/2(9+3)=2

9+3=12

12x2=24

48/24=2

How on Earth or any other planet, galaxy could you get 288? That is like 5th grade math. My guess is that most people forgot the order of operations.
 
How on Earth or any other planet, galaxy could you get 288? That is like 5th grade math. My guess is that most people forgot the order of operations.

You realize that multiplication and division (as well as addition and subtraction) are evaluated from left to right when using order of operation as they are the same "order," right?

What does this expression equal?
100/10/10/10/10*100

The ONLY way to get 2 (even if this is what the writer of the equation meant) is to assume things about the expression which are not explicitly stated.

Using only "48/2(9+3)" the answer is always 288. If you start making assumptions you can make several which cause the answer to become 2. But as written, with the expression as stated, the answer is 288.
 
Please - parentheses
Excuse - exponent
My - multiplication
Dear - division
Aunt - addition
Sally - subtraction

48/2(9+3)=2

9+3=12

12x2=24

48/24=2

How on Earth or any other planet, galaxy could you get 288? That is like 5th grade math. My guess is that most people forgot the order of operations.

It is fifth grade math and you did it wrong.
 
More evidence that you need the asterisk to obtain 288.
 

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I see it as 288. I'm pretty anal about parentheses as I'm in ap chem. So I'm paranoid and use a lot of parentheses. And the lack of parentheses disturbs me.
 
Hmm interesting. If you treat it like a fraction.

48
__________
2(9+3)

You will get 2.

But if you don't treat it like a fraction and just say 48 divided by 2 times (9+3) you get 228.

Very interesting. Nice brain teaser.
 
Please - parentheses
Excuse - exponent
My - multiplication
Dear - division
Aunt - addition
Sally - subtraction

48/2(9+3)=2

9+3=12

12x2=24

48/24=2

How on Earth or any other planet, galaxy could you get 288? That is like 5th grade math. My guess is that most people forgot the order of operations.

My guess is that you had no idea about the fact that multiplication and division have the same precedence. And so do addition and subtraction for that matter.

People are not stupid. This single point is what has spawned so many replies to this thread.
 
More evidence that you need the asterisk to obtain 288.

Dude, take a math class. Just because a programming language requires you to use an asterisk (of course because it needs to know when to multiply, not all languages can deal with implicit multiplication) doesn't make it true.

Please, ask C++ or Java to explain the meaning of life. Then we can have that argument settled too.
 
2

The answer is 2 because of the distributive property of multiplication.

I'm sure we all agree that 2 ÷ 6x != 2 ÷ 6 * x. Same idea applies, 6x = 6(x).

People falsely assume that a(b + c) = a * (b + c), this is not true altho it does work out most of the time. Imagine a(b + c) expanded to (a * b) + (a * c) and not a * (b + c).

You can rewrite the equation 48 / (9x + 3x) as:
48 / x(9 + 3) => 48 / x(12) => 48 / 12x => 4 * (1 / x) => 4 / x.

and not like:
48 / x * (9 + 3) => 48 / x * 12 => 576 / x <--Wrong!

Arguing over order of operations is a moot point, everyone agrees that BEDMAS (or PEDMAS, etc) applies. The error is that you have to simplify the equation before you you apply BEDMAS.

So 48 / 2(9+3) simplifies to 48 / (18+6), then solve.

Heres a better explanation http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110407104558AAnHvCy
 
The answer is 2 because of the distributive property of multiplication.

I'm sure we all agree that 2 ÷ 6x != 2 ÷ 6 * x. Same idea applies, 6x = 6(x).

People falsely assume that a(b + c) = a * (b + c), this is not true altho it does work out most of the time. Imagine a(b + c) expanded to (a * b) + (a * c) and not a * (b + c).

You can rewrite the equation 48 / (9x + 3x) as:
48 / x(9 + 3) => 48 / x(12) => 48 / 12x => 4 * (1 / x) => 4 / x.

and not like:
48 / x * (9 + 3) => 48 / x * 12 => 576 / x <--Wrong!

Arguing over order of operations is a moot point, everyone agrees that BEDMAS (or PEDMAS, etc) applies. The error is that you have to simplify the equation before you you apply BEDMAS.

So 48 / 2(9+3) simplifies to 48 / (18+6), then solve.

Heres a better explanation http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110407104558AAnHvCy
Nope, you are wrong in saying that the order of operations is a moot point. Its is exactly the point. You can't simply ignore it and use the distributive property of multiplication to get the answer you want to. The whole point of the o_O.O. is so people all do simple math problems like this in the correct order.
Another way to see your mistake is in your wording of the post. "You can rewrite the equation" and "The error is that you have to simplify the equation before you you apply BEDMAS." Wrong. Once you rewrite the equation, you are dealing with a new math problem. The problem is to be solved as given. Its a test of BEDMAS or PEMDAS or whatever you call OoO. Changing the equation is changing the question. And why do you think we have to simplify the equation first? I see no proof that we have to do so....
 
Dude, take a math class. Just because a programming language requires you to use an asterisk (of course because it needs to know when to multiply, not all languages can deal with implicit multiplication) doesn't make it true.

Please, ask C++ or Java to explain the meaning of life. Then we can have that argument settled too.

I will gladly take a new math class if the topic of interest will actually teach me something.

Explaining the meaning of life with Java or C++:
The program will need a database or reference library to obtain the answer.
Therefore, to answer your question they could prompt the result by opening the web browser to a result like:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_meaning_of_life

The meaning of life has nothing to do with this thread, even some people seem to be trying to give their life a meaning by posting on this thread/forum.

Nope, you are wrong in saying that the order of operations is a moot point. Its is exactly the point. You can't simply ignore it and use the distributive property of multiplication to get the answer you want to. The whole point of the o_O.O. is so people all do simple math problems like this in the correct order.
Another way to see your mistake is in your wording of the post. "You can rewrite the equation" and "The error is that you have to simplify the equation before you you apply BEDMAS." Wrong. Once you rewrite the equation, you are dealing with a new math problem. The problem is to be solved as given. Its a test of BEDMAS or PEMDAS or whatever you call OoO. Changing the equation is changing the question. And why do you think we have to simplify the equation first? I see no proof that we have to do so....

For much that I want to believe you, I can't.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SB3Ekgt1pHw&feature=youtube_gdata_player
 
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Who writes equations like that????

If the answer matters, then it should be written unambiguously 48/(2(9+3)) or (48/2)(9+3).

I read 2(9+3) as a single term. Order of operations don't account for the jacked up way that we type out equations...they assume proper formatting of the equation.
 

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Who writes equations like that????

If the answer matters, then it should be written unambiguously 48/(2(9+3)) or (48/2)(9+3).

I read 2(9+3) as a single term. Order of operations don't account for the jacked up way that we type out equations...they assume proper formatting of the equation.

True that it does make it harder to read, but it does not make it ambiguous.
 
Ι am not sure what you mean, half have one result and the other half the other result, if we accept there's only one right notation (formalism) for this, half of the people are wrong that's what I am saying.

Actually it is showing 51% for one side and 49% for the other.
If there is no statistical difference between them, you could say that one half is in favor of one of them vs the other half.

The sample size and the error are key to define this.

But as the poll has not been closed yet, and the sample size and error have not been established we cannot make statistical conclusions.

you realize that multiplication and division (as well as addition and subtraction) are evaluated from left to right when using order of operation as they are the same "order," right?

What does this expression equal?
100/10/10/10/10*100

the only way to get 2 (even if this is what the writer of the equation meant) is to assume things about the expression which are not explicitly stated.

Using only "48/2(9+3)" the answer is always 288. If you start making assumptions you can make several which cause the answer to become 2. But as written, with the expression as stated, the answer is 288.

1
 

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MODERATOR NOTE

I've had to remove the last 12 posts in this thread for being far too unfriendly and unnecessarily personal. Please try to keep this thread on-topic and cordial.

Thanks. :)
 
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