the math apocalypse: 48÷2(9+3) = ?

[$trinick]

Yeah, and as a result there is now a convention of left-to-right.

In parsers, sure. In mathematics itself, not really. The / sign does not inherently limit itself to including only the following token from being considered 'under' it. This is why in actual mathematics we use fractions with a horizontal bar to represent things, / was just created with convenience for computer use.

I think what he's saying is there's no gain to doing it any other way. This way is easy, simple, and it's already widely used. Why would you not use it?

Just because it's 'widely used' doesn't mean it's the single correct way to do it. By convention, more humans urinate sitting down than standing up. Does that mean that pissing standing up is an incorrect way to piss?

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[HellHound]

I slapped the question into Wolfram Alpha and got 288.

[Doomonkey]

In parsers, sure. In mathematics itself, not really. The / sign does not inherently limit itself to including only the following token from being considered 'under' it. This is why in actual mathematics we use fractions with a horizontal bar to represent things, / was just created with convenience for computer use.

The / might not be limited to only the immediately following token, but that is the most reasonable assumption.

Just because it's 'widely used' doesn't mean it's the single correct way to do it. By convention, more humans urinate sitting down than standing up. Does that mean that pissing standing up is an incorrect way to piss?

No, but it means that if you had only the information that someone was urinating and you had to evaluate whether or not they were sitting or standing, the correct assumption is that they were sitting.

[$trinick]

Sure, I think that if someone had a gun to your head and asked you to evaluate this question to the correct answer or get shot in the head, your chances are better with 288. The flaw isn't with mathematics though, it's inherent in the question. I was explaining this to Ipquarx, so I'll just summarize. If someone asks you, "How do I do that?" the question is inherently ambiguous. You don't know what "that" is. You might be able to guess what they're talking about and get it right, but in the end it's a guess because the question is ambiguous. 48/2(9+3) is also an ambiguous question. You don't know whether they mean 48/(2(9+3)) or (48/2)(9+3). Again, you might be able to guess which they're talking about and get it right, but in the end it's a guess because the question is ambiguous.

The correct response to someone asking "What is 48/2(9+3)" in text is "Do you mean (48/2)(9+3) or 48/(2(9+3))?"

[ultimamax]

If someone held a gun to my head and asked me to evaluate this problem, I would probably cry and stuff myself repeatedly

[Starzy]

The correct response to someone asking "What is 48/2(9+3)" in text is "Do you mean (48/2)(9+3) or 48/(2(9+3))?"

I already said that on page 9. check m8

[Ipquarx]

I already said that on page 9. check m8

He's not obliged to read every page.

[McJobless]

Call me an idiot, but I still have no loving clue how anybody could see "48 / 2 (9 + 3)" as "48/(2(9+3))".

Why do people have trouble understand that dividing and multiplying are essentially the same operation with reverse results, hence why they have the exact same precedence and you simply pick whatever is the first one from the left to do first?

As for Left-to-Right, I always assumed that was because we use English which is a Left-to-Right language. It would feel weird and stupid if our maths calculations had no consistency.

[SeventhSandwich]

The harsh reality here is that these kinds of 'trick questions' are totally loving useless because they rely on the complete incompetency of the question-maker. Any test worth its salt will use fraction bars for division, which implies where the parenthesis go.

According to the order of operations the answer is 288. However, you shouldn't feel any better or worse at math whether you got it 'right' or 'wrong'. The question is stupid.

/thread over

edit: one more thing to note

i googled it to see on what people agreed and someone made a good point that "2(9+3)" is a single term

'2(9+3)' is not a separate term.

[Alternat¡ve]

The harsh reality here is that these kinds of 'trick questions' are totally loving useless because they rely on the complete incompetency of the question-maker. Any test worth its salt will use fraction bars for division, which implies where the parenthesis go.

According to the order of operations the answer is 288. However, you shouldn't feel any better or worse at math whether you got it 'right' or 'wrong'. The question is stupid.

/thread over

[Blockzillahead]

'2(9+3)' is not a separate term.

math is not fun and yes i see now

[Ayxrion]

You would only multiply two and twelve if 2(12) was in parentheses. Otherwise you solve the equation straight across. Order of operations does not apply at this point because multiplication and division are considered equal, same can be said about addition and subtraction. You don't do 2(12) first because "pemdas" says so, you solve the equation from left to right.

Go back to elementary school kid.

i am a loving handicap
im so sorry

[childofdarkness016]

the PEMDAS thing should really be P E MD AS because that seems to make more sense

also forget i accidentally voted 2

[Steemer]

Another way of showing it:

[#Ravencroft]

My Physics Professor said 288