Poll: What is the answer to 48/2(9+3)?

[Eclectic Dreck]

I never "insisted that your interpretation was incorrect" and never meant to offend your knowledge of mathmatics. I simply was phrasing that the equation's current form can lead some, such as myself, to misinterprate the interaction and relationship between the numbers. can you at least consider that the slash after the 48 could possibly mean that this entire equation is really just one complex fraction, and that it was typed in a confusing manner, and that it could possibly be represented accurately in the follwing manner?

_48__
2(3+9)

I do not begrudge someone for a misinterpretation here. It is simply that I do not agree that the misinterpretation was the result of ambiguous notation as the notation quite explicitly describes the order in which we do the problem and what operands are involved. Something can easily be unclear without being ambiguous. Ambiguity implies that correctly following the rules results in multiple distinct interpretations, something that certainly is not the case here. By contrast there are any number of things that can make this statement unclear.

 

[WorldCritic]

I got 288, screw what they tell you about Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally crap.

 

[Zukhramm]

The way you determine which happens first, (M or D / A or S) is you go back to the start and read the problem from left to right and do the operations in the order that they appear from left to right. In this case, division before multiplication

Or you just do it because the order doesn't matter.


I'm actually surprised about these mnemonics, I was never taught anything like that. The thing to rememver seems more complex than the actual rule to me.

 

[AngelOfBlueRoses]

Now: Question for you. When entering the problem into my calculator, with the multiplication added in, so 48/2*(9+3), it returns the answer 288.

However: When entering the equation 48/2(9+3) into the SAME CALCULATOR, it returns the answer 2.
By removing the multiplication sign from the equation, the calculater worked it out totally differently.

To tease the brains of those so invested already and perhaps for some amusement, why?

I don't know about your calculator, but my TI-83 Plus returned with the answer 288 for: 48/2(9+3). Your calculator must be quite fail if it can't follow PEDMAS.

Op, this isn't at all a clever mindbender. It's you taking advantage of an ambiguous, poorly-written math problem, but hey, whatever helps you feel good about yourself, right?

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

That is just my understanding of the problem at hand, however, based on responses to this thread. I may be completely wrong on that one, but that seems to be a general source of confusion.

I suspect the simple fact that I am a computer science student is probably what utterly eliminates any confusion in this regard for me. The vast majority of the math problems I see are written in a form similar to that. I agree that, were the problem written differently, (i.e. by hand) it would be less confusing.

For example, I suspect this statement, which is identical to the one above in the OP, would be less likely to be misinterpreted:

48 (9 + 3)
2

 

[Fists]

Actually surprised I'm in the minority voting for 2, to get 288 you would need (48/2)(9+3) or 48/2·(9+3)
(The second is shorthand used in chemistry, not sure if its common anywhere else).

 

[timeadept]

I never "insisted that your interpretation was incorrect" and never meant to offend your knowledge of mathmatics. I simply was phrasing that the equation's current form can lead some, such as myself, to misinterprate the interaction and relationship between the numbers. can you at least consider that the slash after the 48 could possibly mean that this entire equation is really just one complex fraction, and that it was typed in a confusing manner, and that it could possibly be represented accurately in the follwing manner?

_48__
2(3+9)

I do not begrudge someone for a misinterpretation here. It is simply that I do not agree that the misinterpretation was the result of ambiguous notation as the notation quite explicitly describes the order in which we do the problem and what operands are involved. Something can easily be unclear without being ambiguous. Ambiguity implies that correctly following the rules results in multiple distinct interpretations, something that certainly is not the case here. By contrast there are any number of things that can make this statement unclear.

Thanks for that clarification of the difference between ambiguity and lack of clarity. I'm usually a shy, compromising person but I've been taught to be militant when it comes to mathematics. I was struggling to find an appropriate choice of words to describe what exactly what is wrong with the problem, because math, by its nature cannot possibly be ambiguous.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

I don't know about your calculator, but my TI-83 Plus returned with the answer 288 for: 48/2(9+3). Your calculator must be quite fail if it can't follow PEDMAS.

I tried it on my TI-89 and a Casio fx-9750G and the result was 288 regardless of if I entered a multiplication symbol between the 2 and the (. I'm curious as to what calculator was in use given that a mistake of that sort would generally reside at the hardware level and it would necessarily make the same mistake any time an equation of that form were entered.

 

[Merkavar]

Remember the thread way back a few years ago where people were discussing the nerdiest thing they had ever debated about? My answer is now this thread.

i got 2

9+3*2=24
48/24

google changes the formula to look like this (48 / 2) * (9 + 3) = 288

I don't see the point you're trying to make. Google's saying you're wrong (which you are), and you're trying to show it as evidence that you're right?

no i was saying that i got 2 as my answer cause i calculated it following brackets then times then divided then plus and then minus but google basically just went left to right. i was showing that google did it differently from me and thats why google got the right answer. i was treating the / as denominator and numerator seperating the 48 from the 2*(9+3)

 

[Dana22]

Its 288.

 

[fundayz]

wow 41.7% of people who tried this can't do basic math

order of operations....google it

And no, the question has nothing ambiguous about it; people just don't know how to read math on computers. It's almost sad.

 

[Imat]

That is just my understanding of the problem at hand, however, based on responses to this thread. I may be completely wrong on that one, but that seems to be a general source of confusion.

I suspect the simple fact that I am a computer science student is probably what utterly eliminates any confusion in this regard for me. The vast majority of the math problems I see are written in a form similar to that. I agree that, were the problem written differently, (i.e. by hand) it would be less confusing.

For example, I suspect this statement, which is identical to the one above in the OP, would be less likely to be misinterpreted:

48 (9 + 3)
2

Also CompSci. Computers are fun stuff, ain't they?

And yes. I believe it to be a problem of ascii interpretation rather than true confusion over the equation. Written by hand or as you wrote it, the confusion disappears entirely.

 

[timeadept]

The way you determine which happens first, (M or D / A or S) is you go back to the start and read the problem from left to right and do the operations in the order that they appear from left to right. In this case, division before multiplication

Or you just do it because the order doesn't matter.


I'm actually surprised about these mnemonics, I was never taught anything like that. The thing to rememver seems more complex than the actual rule to me.

This problem illustrates exactly why the order matters. There is only ever one answer to a math problem (well as long as we're dealing with functions like this one anyways). I don't know what to tell you if you don't trust me, but i am 100% sure that you handle division and multiplication whichever comes first from left to right, as with addition and subtraction.

I put this into my TI-83 and it came up with 288 (and it ALWAYS will). If that doesn't convince you that what i said is true, then i cannot convince you.

 

[ScorpSt]

Let me re-write this properly using grade-school operators:
48÷2×(9+3)
48÷2×(12)
24×(12)
288

It makes so much more sense when you don't over-think it. When you're writing it out in a line like that, '/' is the same thing as '÷'.

 

[instantbenz]

It's 2. The value of 2(9+3) lies in the denominator; there's no indication that (9+3) is a separate function.

As stated previously the parenthesis work is performed first followed by simple math from left to right in this case. Additional parenthesis around the denominator would be redundant, but from the poll it seems necessary.

 

[MagusVulpes]

It really comes down to at least 1 set of missing brackets. Since it is written linearly it should either read as (48/2)(9+3) or 48/(2(9+3)). Without brackets all computers will calculate it as 288. Whether this is the correct answer appears to be true, but without those missing brackets, it's impossible to tell what the intended answer should be. The 'pure way' would be to do 48/2 first, but every time I look at it, my brain says, and with every fiber of my being this is what it does, that 2(9+3) is a single entity beneath 48.

Ergo, I see 48/x where x=2(9+3). Whether it's proper or not, that's what I see every time I look at it. I imagine that's true for the others saying it's 2.

 

[timeadept]

Now: Question for you. When entering the problem into my calculator, with the multiplication added in, so 48/2*(9+3), it returns the answer 288.

However: When entering the equation 48/2(9+3) into the SAME CALCULATOR, it returns the answer 2.
By removing the multiplication sign from the equation, the calculater worked it out totally differently.

To tease the brains of those so invested already and perhaps for some amusement, why?

I did the exact same thing with my calculator and it returned the exact same answer both times, 288. You must have made an error when entering one of the two because those are the same equation and have the same answer. (48/2*(9+3))=(48/2(9+3))

 

[SenorNemo]

It's a horribly transcribed problem, but my first instinct calculating it in my head was 288.

 

[Zukhramm]

This problem illustrates exactly why the order matters. There is only ever one answer to a math problem (well as long as we're dealing with functions like this one anyways). I don't know what to tell you if you don't trust me, but i am 100% sure that you handle division and multiplication whichever comes first from left to right, as with addition and subtraction.

I put this into my TI-83 and it came up with 288 (and it ALWAYS will). If that doesn't convince you that what i said is true, then i cannot convince you.

But addition and subtraction can be done in any order aswell, x-y is the same as -y+x. You can flip them about and juggle them any way you want. The reason we are getting different answers from the expression OP posted is because there's disagreement on what this expression actually is, not because of what order multiplications happen in.

 

[AgDr_ODST]

Im not doing your homework for you...so in lieu of that statement the answer your looking for is Bacon! Bacon is always the answer!!!!!!!!!!