This is the longest thread I've seen on this forum that's arguing over a matter of style... I'm sad
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Solve this simple math problem: 48/2(9+3)
- Thread starter coolwater
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So...2 it is.
2 means that there are two answers:
1) the wrong one: any other answer
2) the right one: 2 itself
I love my Mac.
2 means that there are two answers:
1) the wrong one: any other answer
2) the right one: 2 itself
I love my Mac.
Depending on how you solve it, your answer is either 288 or 2.
Nothing is missing in the equation - no math symbol is missing between 2 and (9+3), so solve it as is.
Now, cast your vote!
What a thread.
The premise is incorrect from the start - this is not a mathematical problem, it is a problem of noting a very simple formula using ASCII characters only, and deciding how that sequence of ASCII characters should be interpreted.
The "PEMDAS" rule was quoted, which is apparently used to drill children in the USA and remove any inkling of mathematical talent from their tiny little brains. PEMDAS has nothing to do with mathematics. It is about interpretation of a textual representation of a formula.
Someone went so far to ask "do you think you are more intelligent than a calculator"? What a stupid question. Even the most stupid poster here on this thread has an intelligence that is far superior to that of any calculator.
When you write down a formula, it is essential to write it down in a way that doesn't leave room for interpretation, and in a way that survives the limitations of the medium involved. This wasn't done here. Whatever the original poster wrote went through some major textual manipulation. It went through a web browser, a "POST" command, was interpreted by the MacRumors server software, translated into HTML, and then displayed on my screen. There is no way for me or anyone else to know what the user actually posted. And to the majority of posters here, whatever rules are tought to children in the US school system don't apply.
Trying to give an answer to the question is just stupid, when it is clear that nobody knows what the original poster actually meant when writing down the formula. It would have been very simple to either write (48/2) * (9+3) or 48 / (2 * (9 + 3)) where in each case there would have been agreement how to interpret this. That didn't happen; any attempt of interpreting the text as given is pointless.
Wow, really?
I had to click on this to see how the **** so many pages could be on a simple math problem. To those who got 288, kudos. To those who got 2, you're wrong. Sorry, no offense, but it's very simple math. Fivetoedsloth, dukebound85, others are right, with multiplication and division (or addition and subtraction) it goes from left to right.
Also, if you trust your Mac more than google, copy and paste the question into mac's Grapher program. It displays it correctly (with the 48 above the 2 and 9+3 off to the side) and gives you 288.
I had to click on this to see how the **** so many pages could be on a simple math problem. To those who got 288, kudos. To those who got 2, you're wrong. Sorry, no offense, but it's very simple math. Fivetoedsloth, dukebound85, others are right, with multiplication and division (or addition and subtraction) it goes from left to right.
Also, if you trust your Mac more than google, copy and paste the question into mac's Grapher program. It displays it correctly (with the 48 above the 2 and 9+3 off to the side) and gives you 288.
I woke up and checked this thread just to see if all the people who really think it's two woke up and realized it's not 2 its 288.
I should have known that wasn't going to happen. All that happened was another 2 pages. What an EPIC thread
I should have known that wasn't going to happen. All that happened was another 2 pages
. What an EPIC thread 48/2(9+3)
There is implied multiplication between the 2 and the (9+3) term, meaning the equation effectively looks like
48/2*(9+3)
This is quite obviously 288.
I agree too this is a stupid question, it's akin to asking someone verbally "what does 'their' mean?" because the choice of "their" vs "they're" is not clear.
If there was a space, such that it said
48/ 2*(9+3)
then I could see an argument for it being 2, but as it stands, there is no reason you should ever find this equation to be equal to 2.
There is implied multiplication between the 2 and the (9+3) term, meaning the equation effectively looks like
48/2*(9+3)
This is quite obviously 288.
I agree too this is a stupid question, it's akin to asking someone verbally "what does 'their' mean?" because the choice of "their" vs "they're" is not clear.
If there was a space, such that it said
48/ 2*(9+3)
then I could see an argument for it being 2, but as it stands, there is no reason you should ever find this equation to be equal to 2.
Want to guess where I stopped taking you seriously? Or were you trolling right from the start? The equation is written fine if you know how to read it. And the rambling about the interpretation and going through HTML and whatnot was no more relevant than babbling on about how you can't argue with a person speaking to you b/c the air went from their lungs over their vocal cords and had to deal with the pressure changes in the surrounding atmosphere and vibrate your blah blah blah. S/he wrote it, it's obvious what it meant with the 2 or 288 answer choices, and if you know how to do math the answer is obvious.
johnnyturbouk
macrumors 68000
-That is how i read the question - although i am no mathematician!
-I always thought, from school level maths that if it read
(48/2)*(9+3) = 288
However, the equation was expressed as: 48/2(9+3)
thus the numerator = 48...........= 48
and the denominator= 2(9+3).... =24
thus equaling 2
i think we can leave it at 'bad style'
IMHO it proves again that mixing on-the-paper-notation (leaving out the multiplication sign) and computer notation ( '/' instead of the paper notation) simply leads to confusing situation and needs to be avoided
yes the answer is mathematical clear but why write it down that way in the first place ?
IMHO it proves again that mixing on-the-paper-notation (leaving out the multiplication sign) and computer notation ( '/' instead of the paper notation) simply leads to confusing situation and needs to be avoided
yes the answer is mathematical clear but why write it down that way in the first place ?
Dammit, I fell at the last hurdle. I get 288 but then clicked 2 by mistake!
Should be split 50/50 but I have skewed it a little.
As many others have said, I followed BODMAS
Brackets
Order
Division
Multiplication
Addition
Subtraction
Should be split 50/50 but I have skewed it a little.
As many others have said, I followed BODMAS
Brackets
Order
Division
Multiplication
Addition
Subtraction
For the last time, a simple google search will show you guys that unless the calculator is in scientific mode, it will give you the wrong answer. Hard to believe, I guess, that a machine could be wrong, but it's true.
It's ambiguous in the same way 1 + 1 = ?? is ambiguous.
(the answer could be 2, or 10, or plenty of other answers if you make different assumptions other than what is stated in the unknown equation)
am·big·u·ous/amˈbigyo͞oəs/Adjective
1. (of language) Open to more than one interpretation; having a double meaning.
2. Unclear or inexact because a choice between alternatives has not been made.
The problem may be confusing to some; it certainly is not ambiguous. There are rules in math, if you follow them, there is only one answer. Period.
1. (of language) Open to more than one interpretation; having a double meaning.
2. Unclear or inexact because a choice between alternatives has not been made.
The problem may be confusing to some; it certainly is not ambiguous. There are rules in math, if you follow them, there is only one answer. Period.
There's another acronym/mnemonic for that.
PEBCAK. Problem Exists Between Chair and Keyboard.
B
johnnyturbouk
macrumors 68000
i agree and disagree!
I believe the problem stated was ambiguous since he/she did not express the equation with parentheses that would have helped to expound the problem in a more accurate manner!
The equation should of been expressed as: (48/2) x (9+3)
Mathematics do have rules, and thus will almost certainly yield one answer, this only holds true if there was clear presentation of the facts stated, rather than the reader making inferences from the initial question: which in this case was poorly numbered (worded)
The only way to get 2 as an answer is to make inferences.
If you only use what is explicitly given in the equation it always equals 288.
johnnyturbouk
macrumors 68000
I would not call it bad style but pretty clear that people all over the world suck at math.
I can not even remember the last time I used the paper notation over '/' in my work. That paper notation is harder to write and read for me as it can easy be confused with '-' if the dots are missed or poorly put in place.
The correct way to read 48/2(9+2) is (48/2)*(9+3) no other way about it. I would write it 48/2(9+3) because that is clear what it should be and under the rules that is exactly what I was aiming for. If I wanted it to be 48/ ((2*(9+3)) I would write it that way or have the 48 above a longer line and the 2 (9+3) completely below it.
Ambiguity would be something like
what does 48 2 9 3 equal?
A mathematical expression such as the one addressed here is not ambiguous unless people draw inferences from it which are not present. Just because people can incorrectly draw information does not make something inherently ambiguous.
It would be ambiguous if there were two right answers from the given information. In this case, there is not, there is only one answer which makes sense mathematically from the equation.
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