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Solve this simple math problem: 48/2(9+3)

288 or 2 ?

  • 288

    Votes: 154 48.4%

  • 2

    Votes: 164 51.6%
  • Total voters
    318
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TuffLuffJimmy said:
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.
Click to expand...

good post.
 
Sorry for thread bumping, but I need to mention something. It's called juxtaposition, and it says that anything multiplied goes together, which makes sense. Would you say 1/2X is:

1
_
2X

or

1
_X
2

Most math teachers, professors, and students would say the first one, not the second. So here would not be an exception to that. Plus I vote that we get rid of the ÷ and the / permanently in math and only use fractions, that way we don't get confused like this.
 
This thread needs to be closed. Not everyone is going to agree and it should be left at that.
 
It's really funny how 50% of ADULTS get this extremely simple math problem wrong.

I'm in 7th grade and we've leaned PEMDAS recently.

PEMDAS means Parenthesis Expontent Multiplication Divison Addition Subtraction, and that's the order you do the problem in.

So doing 48/2(9+3), follow PEMDAS. So the first step is doing what's inside the parenthesis so it'll be 48/2(12). So then, still following PEMDAS, you multiply 2 by 12 and get 24. So now you have 48/24. And the answer is obviously 2.

Seriously guys, getting proved wrong by a 13 year old??
 
dominickator said:
It's really funny how 50% of ADULTS get this extremely simple math problem wrong.

I'm in 7th grade and we've leaned PEMDAS recently.

PEMDAS means Parenthesis Expontent Multiplication Divison Addition Subtraction, and that's the order you do the problem in.

So doing 48/2(9+3), follow PEMDAS. So the first step is doing what's inside the parenthesis so it'll be 48/2(12). So then, still following PEMDAS, you multiply 2 by 12 and get 24. So now you have 48/24. And the answer is obviously 2.

Seriously guys, getting proved wrong by a 13 year old??
Click to expand...

...

I weep for our future.

There are arguments for this being equal to 2 which are somewhat valid or convincing. This is not even close to being one of them. Do people in school really not learn that multiplication/division and addition/subtraction are of equal precedence? Are teachers really teaching so poorly on this note?
 
dominickator said:
It's really funny how 50% of ADULTS get this extremely simple math problem wrong.

I'm in 7th grade and we've leaned PEMDAS recently.

PEMDAS means Parenthesis Expontent Multiplication Divison Addition Subtraction, and that's the order you do the problem in.

So doing 48/2(9+3), follow PEMDAS. So the first step is doing what's inside the parenthesis so it'll be 48/2(12). So then, still following PEMDAS, you multiply 2 by 12 and get 24. So now you have 48/24. And the answer is obviously 2.

Seriously guys, getting proved wrong by a 13 year old??
Click to expand...

Lol read the first 21 pages of this thread. Your answer has been mentioned and proven wrong a numerous amount of times. Once you've read all 21 pages, edit your post.
 
It's amazing that no matter how many pages this thread goes on for there are still people who butt in and completely ignore order of operations and complain about the ambiguity of the problem. It's not ambiguous, and it's an extremely easy math problem.
 
It's been too long since I've done this kind of math. As all ready been stated, the answer is 2 or 288. The correct answer has to be based on what takes priority the division or the parenthesis? My initial impression was 288 because I was thinking the parenthesis took priority. Therefore 48/2=24*(9+3); 24*12=288. Now I'm thinking the division takes priority so the answer would be 2. 48/2(12)= 48/24= 2. :)

Which one is it?
 
Huntn said:
It's been too long since I've done this kind of math. As all ready been stated, the answer is 2 or 288. The correct answer has to be based on what takes priority the division or the parenthesis? My initial impression was 288 because I was thinking the parenthesis took priority. Therefore 48/2=24*(9+3); 24*12=288. Now I'm thinking the division takes priority so the answer would be 2. 48/2(12)= 48/24= 2. :)

Which one is it?
Click to expand...

That's what the last 400 posts have been about!

I think everyone agrees the brackets take priority, it is the next step that causes tension! Is is 48/2 first or 2*12?

Using the BODMAS (or PEDMAS as many know it as) approach 288 is probably accurate; however, BODMAS is not a law. Other conventions exist. There is no maths government that says it must be used!

My personal view is that the "/" symbol isn't meant to be read as a "/" symbol but a "___" symbol. Mathematicians tend not to use "/"; however, it is used when coding on a computer.

In reality, the 288 and 2 have been at roughly 50% for ages. So the actual true answer (if there is one!) doesn't really matter in my opinion. The equation should be written in a way that nobody could argue about.
 
iStudentUK said:
In reality, the 288 and 2 have been at roughly 50% for ages. So the actual true answer (if there is one!) doesn't really matter in my opinion. The equation should be written in a way that nobody could argue about.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Priorities have to be established somewhere.

If it was written like:
48
2(9+3)

I'm thinking this would be better. :)
 
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