Maths Question

[Fat Audi 80]

What is the answer to:

48÷2(9+3)

Thanks,

Steve



Once you have answered you might like to read this:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/t...3%29&mid=24165

[bikerjim]

lol, i get 2

[Dan]

See, this is why it's better to write it as:

_48__
2(9+3)

Or

48
--- (9+3)
2



Calculator says 228, by the way.

[M_GORDON]

48/2(9+3) = 2

48/2*(9+3) = 288

[Dan]

hahahahaha

We're all f**cked.

And this is why we can't have rocket cars.

[Fat Audi 80]

I got 2 btw...

[Fat Audi 80]

P.S. my scientific calculator gives me 2 when you input it exactly as the question!

[Dan]

P.S. my scientific calculator gives me 2 when you input it exactly as the question!

Well, mine gives 228, so nerrr

That said, 2 was what I came up with myself.

BODMAS says the 2( expands to 2 * ( which then has equal priority to the ÷. Since the ÷ is leftmost, it's processed first: 228.

However, dogma says that when it's written as x(term), that is generally treated as one block and would so be resolved first: 2.

As a guy said early on in the thread, it's mixing highschool maths (÷) with proper maths (x(term)).

BODMAS is a hack for those too lazy to explicitly write what they mean

[Fat Audi 80]

Agreed, the "term" should be treated as one, hence the result of 2, but the equation is pants.

[Jamo]

What a poor expression of a calculation, it's stuff like this that used to make my days a nightmare when I was doing Quality Assurance and statistics

The way it's written out the answer would be 2 but in "real" calculation it would be 288

[Ross]

288... high school maths as said; thus 2 is a school boy error

Brackets - division - multiplication - addition - subtraction

Doesn't matter what order they come in the calculation, that's the rules!

[KRIENG]

http://www.mathgoodies.com/lessons/v...perations.html
The rule is
Rule 1: First perform any calculations inside parentheses.
Rule 2: Next perform all multiplications and divisions, working from left to right.
Rule 3: Lastly, perform all additions and subtractions, working from left to right.

So 48÷2(9+3) =

Rule 1 = 48÷2(12) ---> 48÷2 x12

Rule 2 = 24x12 ----> 288

We calculate by The Rule

[Bowlerwell]

2 is definitely the correct answer.
multiplying the 2 by the internals of the brackets is still a function of the brackets imo.
Otherwise there would be a drawn multiplication sign.
Ultimately, it is just a badly written out expression.

[Nuvo]

Let x = (9+3) = 12, so we have 48/2x. So x has a coefficient of 24.

Substituting for x gives 24(12) = 288.

[Dan]

I like how the PH thread is still going and has devolved into an argument over whether NULL == 0.