It's written poorly, but the way it is written it should be done like this:
mindlesspuppet said:
2... still remember from grade school, Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally; Parentheses, Exponent, Multiply, Divide, Addition, Subtract. So... 9+3=12, 12*2=24, 48/24=2.
48/2(9+3)
48/2(12)
48/24 = 2
If they wanted the answer to be 2, they should have written the problem like this:
48/(2(9+3))
If they wanted the answer to be 288, they should have written it like this:
(48/2)(9+3)
Then there would be no confusion. But as it stands, the way it's written means the correct answer must be 2, and if you get 288 then you need to back to basic math and relearn your "please excuse my dear aunt sally".