1 Attachment(s)
[RESOLVED] What is the answer to this ?
Attachment 99785
I just saw the above on FaceBook.. Using the order of operations, the answer I came to was 1. However, a number of commenters insist passionately that the answer is 9. Some of them offer some semblance of an explanation why but I must admit, I was lost. Some people said they used something called PEDMAS which I honestly never heard of before (I know it as BOMDAS) and some people talked about some distribution principle behind their conclusions.
I'd be the first to admit that math really isn't my strong suit. I know that sounds strange coming from a programmer.
My question is, who is right ?
Re: What is the answer to this ?
Morning Niya,
The answer to this, using the rules of BODMAS is 9, since BODMAS defines the rules for Math as:-
Brackets
(over)
Division
Multiplication
Addition
Subtraction
Therefore:-
1) (1+2) is calculated first = 3
2) 6/2 is calculated next = 3
3) 3*3 is calculated last = 9
If you are still not too sure, just chuck the expression into Excel for confirmation.
Hope that helps.
Cheers,
Ian
Re: What is the answer to this ?
Oh its BODMAS...Division before multiplication. I get it now.
Re: What is the answer to this ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Niya
Oh its BODMAS...Division before multiplication. I get it now.
Not quite, the Multiplication/Division and Addition/Subtraction come in the order they appear. The only reason division comes first in this particular scenario is because it actually appears to the left of the multiplication.
Re: What is the answer to this ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
kfcSmitty
The only reason division comes first in this particular scenario is because it actually appears to the left of the multiplication.
I really never knew this. I thought the order was fixed.
Thanks.
Re: What is the answer to this ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
kfcSmitty
Not quite, the Multiplication/Division and Addition/Subtraction come in the order they appear. The only reason division comes first in this particular scenario is because it actually appears to the left of the multiplication.
FWIW, as a PhD student in math, I agree entirely. Realistically you'll confuse people with the sort of expression above so you should just use extra brackets, but the common convention does cover this case and gives 9, not 1.
Re: What is the answer to this ?
As per BODMAS rule it's answer is 9
