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cloaked_wolf
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Calculate the answer to 48÷2(9+3)
What do you get?
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| Sun Apr 24, 2011 9:42 pm |
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jonbwfc
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Does nobody learn BODMAS these days? Besides, when I was doing maths, you'd have got shouted at for missing the multiplication symbol, even though it's implied.
Jon
Last edited by jonbwfc on Sun Apr 24, 2011 9:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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| Sun Apr 24, 2011 9:48 pm |
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leeds_manc
I haven't seen my friends in so long
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 8:19 pm
Posts: 5071
Location: Manchester
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48
It strikes me that I've forgotten what takes priority, ok here goes again. I get 2.
:edit: isn't it obviously 2? Why would you get the other figure?
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| Sun Apr 24, 2011 9:49 pm |
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Paul1965
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"I hadn't known there were so many idiots in the world until I started using the Internet." - Stanislaw Lem
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| Sun Apr 24, 2011 10:00 pm |
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timark_uk
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Location: Belfast
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36.
(Do I get the cool QI FAIL klaxon?)
Mark
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| Sun Apr 24, 2011 10:14 pm |
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Spreadie
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Surely it would be 48÷(2(9+3))=2
48÷2(9+3) would work out as 48÷2x12 = 288
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| Sun Apr 24, 2011 10:15 pm |
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ProfessorF
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I read that as 24x12.
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| Sun Apr 24, 2011 10:20 pm |
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cloaked_wolf
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No. You get locked in the cupboard with Jo Brandt for fifteen minutes.  _________________He fights for the users.
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| Sun Apr 24, 2011 10:25 pm |
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JJW009
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If you'd written 48 ÷ 2 x (9+3) then I'd have said 288
If you'd written 48 / 2 * (9+3) I'd have said 288
If you'd written 48 / 2(9+3) I'd have said 2 because I'd have taken the entire second half to be underneath.
Without the multiplication sign, I read the 2(9+3) as a single item. However, I'd never mix the 'rithmetic convention of "times" and "divide" signs with the more algebraic convention of never using them at all. Seriously; when did you ever see a ÷ in anything past high school?
I voted for 2 because there wasn't a "slap the teacher" option.
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| Sun Apr 24, 2011 10:41 pm |
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cloaked_wolf
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This was all taken off another forum and it was interesting to see what peoples' interpretation of the question was.
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| Sun Apr 24, 2011 11:19 pm |
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JJW009
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Found this after you said you'd seen the exact question elsewhere: http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/48293The important extracts are that: multiplication and division hold equal precedenceand many calculators and textbooks state that a higher value of precedence should be placed on implied multiplication than on explicit multiplicationThe problem really is the bad form of the question. _________________jonbwfc's law: "In any forum thread someone will, no matter what the subject, mention Firefly." When you're feeling too silly for x404, youRwired.net
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| Mon Apr 25, 2011 12:42 am |
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JJW009
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Read this from Wiki:  | | | | Quote: Mnemonics are often used to help students remember the rules, but the rules taught by the use of acronyms can be misleading. In Canada the acronym BEDMAS is common. It stands for Brackets, Exponents, Division, Multiplication, Addition, Subtraction. In other English speaking countries, Brackets may be called Parentheses, or symbols of inclusion and Exponentiation may be called either Indices, Powers or Orders, and since multiplication and division are of equal precedence, M and D are often interchanged, leading to such acronyms as BIMDAS, BODMAS, BOMDAS, BERDMAS, PERDMAS, PEMDAS, PEDMAS and BPODMAS.
These mnemonics may be misleading, especially if the user is not aware that multiplication and division are of equal precedence, as are addition and subtraction. | | | | |
_________________jonbwfc's law: "In any forum thread someone will, no matter what the subject, mention Firefly." When you're feeling too silly for x404, youRwired.net
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| Mon Apr 25, 2011 12:57 am |
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MrStevenRogers
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| Mon Apr 25, 2011 2:27 am |
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leeds_manc
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I was taught BPODMAS 
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| Mon Apr 25, 2011 2:46 am |
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l3v1ck
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+1 I know there are rules on these things (which I'm not 100% sure of), but I always add enough brackets to make it perfectly clear when I write formulas. For that I'd have written: (48÷2)(9+3)
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| Mon Apr 25, 2011 6:17 am |
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