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

[kurupt87]

PEMDAS

(48/2)(9+3)=288
48/2(9+3)=2

Better?

BIDMAS

48/2(9+3)=288
48/[2(9+3)]=2

Better?

As many have already said, it's a poorly written problem.

The fact that "/" is used does not necessarily imply a fraction. "/" is the default sign for the operation called division and also to seperate a numerator from a denominator in computer language, this is where the problem lies.

 

[mps4li3n]

No, it most certainly is a math issue. People have been taught the order of operations wrong if they got 2. There's no room for interpretation here any more than there is room for interpretation as to what 4-3+2 equals (spoiler: it's not -1).

There is room if the symbol "-" wasn't used universally the same way...

The problem is that the "/" symbol being used isn't even the right symbol for it because your keyboard doesn't have the proper mathematical one but it's the "slash", which is used in grammar, while the one that should be used for math is the solidus: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solidus_%28punctuation%29#Mathematics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slash_%28punctuation%29#Arithmetic

Look what happens if i copy paste it: 123⁄456 See, even without the more hand writing like formatting it's still different from 123/456...

Because the sign hasn't been used that long there are still places where there's no imediate implication that the "/" sign is only for the numbers right next to it, as in hand written text the way it's placed is obvious and thus doesn't need to use x/(y+z).

Of course that doesn't mean some people here aren't screwing up the order of operations, the point is that the original way the operation is presented can easily be confusing... and that's why i for one won't vote in the poll without more clarification...

 

[mps4li3n]

The fact that "/" is used does not necessarily imply a fraction. "/" is the default sign for the operation called division and also to seperate a numerator from a denominator in computer language, this is where the problem lies.

As you can see in my links above the "/" is not even the proper original sign actually... and this problem would have never actually happened if not for computers.

 

[bob1052]

It's nothing more than simple PEMDAS

48/2*(9+3)

You do what's in the parentheses first

48/2*12

No.

You multiply into the paranthesis, as such:
2*(9+3) = (2*9)+(2*3) = 18+6 = 24

Then you do whatever multiplication or division comes first. In this case it was 48/2

24*12

Dude, wat? You'd do that if the question was (42/2)*(9+3). You can't divide by a single number in the denominator and leave out the rest. Everything "above" the division and everything "below" the division.


I hope this is not an indication of American math. Honestly, I suck at math, and this just seems like elementary school stuff to me. Whatever PEMDAS is, this is a clear and easy matter of calculating it using your brain, not a standard formula.

48/2(9+3) = 48/(2*9)+(2*3) = 48/18+6 = 48/24 = 2

Anything else is incorrect.

Wrong. When you write two separate numbers next to each other it is implied multiplication.

2 (9 + 3) is 2 * (9 + 3)

The 2 WHICH IS OUTSIDE OF THE BRACKET is NOT INSIDE THE BRACKET.

Once you expand the bracket you get 48 / 2 * 12
Multiplication and division have the exact same priority, and in the case that you have to do both you work from left to right.

That means you go

48/2*12
=24*12
=288

Anything else is incorrect.

I hope this is not an indication of UK math. Honestly, I suck at math, and this just seems like elementary school stuff to me.

 

[sheogoraththemad]

when did the escapist turn into /B/?!

 

[Jodah]

Given the typed version its 288 as many people have said and shown. However, if it were written as a fraction with a horizontal line rather than a slash it would be clearer and could, potentially, come out to 2.

 

[Ilikemilkshake]

288 using BODMAS (brackets, order, division, multiplication, addition, subtraction).
48/2*(9+3)
=48/2*(12)
=24*12
=288.
never heard of PEMDAS (scottish education system FTL)

heretic! we learned BOMDAS at my school

anyway, you get 288 if you do it as above
really the question should be like (48/2)*(9+3) to avoid confusion
otherwise you might end up thinking its 48/(2*(9+3)) = 2

 

[snowfi6916]

It's 288. I put it into my ti 83 calculator exactly as written. 48/(2(9+3)) gives you 2, but since the 2 is not part of the denominator you perform the 48/2 first then do 9+3 then 24*12 = 288.

 

[Shoqiyqa]

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.

The one they taught us was BODMAS: Brackets, Of, Divide, Multiply, Add, Subtract. That gives:

48/2(9+3)

48/2(12)

24(12)

288

The correct answer is to find the person who sent you the information in an ambiguous format and use his neck as a handle to hammer some sense into his wall with his head.

 

[Enrathi]

I was taught that division signs, '/', count as being a grouping symbol. Ergo, using that logic you would wind up with 48 over top of 2*(9+3), which would be better clarified as 48/(2*(9+3)).

It all depends on the order that you think it should be done in. Without clarification, it all depends on how YOUR math teacher taught you.

While I agree with you, it technically comes down to whether your math teacher taught you properly or not. Math is not subjective in the least.

Sure it is. I'm a programmer and by reading the formula as written I get 288. The way the computer sees it is 48/2*(9+3), so that's the way I interpret it. If I was looking for an answer of 2, I'd have written the formula as 48/(2(9+3)). Since the computer interprets formulas in a very specific manner, I have to write (and therefore read) all my formulas in a very specific manner. As written, the answer to me is 288.

I'll admit it's been a while since I was last in a math class, but last time I read a text, it used either ÷ or had clearly defined fractional equations. As written the question is ambiguous and yes, in this case math is subjective. The rules of math are not, but the writing and interpretation of the formula are.

 

[mps4li3n]

The 2 WHICH IS OUTSIDE OF THE BRACKET is NOT INSIDE THE BRACKET.

Except that before computers there would be no need for brackets because the proper "/" math sign showed exactly what was superscript and subscript... and people don't get used to new uses that easily.

 

[Beryl77]

Both answers are correct, it depends on how you look at it.

 

[Sebobii]

As everyone else has pointed out, the problem lies with the presentation. Put this into a calculator and you would get 288. For it to result in 2 You would need another parenthesis;
48 / ( 2 (9 + 3) )
At least that's what I'm getting off C#. Hilarious

 

[wetfart]

I got 288, however my calculus professor in college did state that the numbers aren't important on several occasions.

 

[snowfi6916]

Both answers are correct, it depends on how you look at it.

Tell that to a math teacher...the answer is 288. The parentheses are not done first because the 2 is not in them. Therefore, you MUST do 48/2 first because you do multiplication and division first from left to right then add/subtract.

 

[mps4li3n]

As written the question is ambiguous and yes, in this case math is subjective. The rules of math are not, but the writing and interpretation of the formula are.

Actually i'd put it more like "math is not subjective, but how you write it is because writing employs arbitrary rules (which doesn't mean they're random)".


Just look at all the people that where talking about the left to right rule... 48*(1/2)*12 can be done 24*12 or 48*6... actual math rules cannot be broken like that.

 

[Amphoteric]

What are you multiplying by the bracket?

 

[robotam]

I can see how someone who doesn't know how to properly interpret the question might think that it is written in a terrible way. But really there is a specific way to read that statement, and if read properly it will always give the answer 288.

You can just assume that the division symbol means divide only by the first number/expression, what else would it mean? Does 2 * 3 - 4 mean anything other than two times three minus four? Does it mean two times three and two times four? I don't think so. It's a matter of reading the problem properly.

It is very possible to determine the correct answer to a math problem, but I can see how it might be hard for certain people to accept being wrong, especially on an internet forum.

You know what?
You're right. As it is written 288 would be the correct answer. I still don't like the way the question is worded.
There, someone on a forum addmited there mistakes. I've heard that every time that happens, an angel gets their wings

 

[mps4li3n]

Both answers are correct, it depends on how you look at it.

Tell that to a math teacher...the answer is 288. The parentheses are not done first because the 2 is not in them. Therefore, you MUST do 48/2 first becuase you do multiplication and division first from left to right then add/subtract.

I'm pretty sure that if i put this in front of a math teacher that has never seen a computer or one from 100 years ago (at least one over here) he'd be confused by how it's written because of the lack of noticeable superscript and subscript, as a handwritten version would have.

Hell, that's why WolframAlpha actually shows you the old way it would look: http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=48%2F2%289%2B3%29