discussion Can you solve this?

[Aethereal]

16 minutes ago, Bloo said:

Programming languages would output 9. You’d have to add in additional parentheses to get it to output 1.

 

OT: The answer is 9. 

I just tested it and you're correct.

In numerical analysis I remember our lecturer telling us this, I think it was only for hand-calculators and I must've mistaken it for programming languages. However in my calculator the answer is 1 which is an 'old solution style' design for hand-calculators from what I've just read. 

 

Google gives the result as 9, which is build in Java code. 

[BryceG]

How I was taught, it would be “1”. 

[Bloo]

3 hours ago, Aristotle said:

I just tested it and you're correct.

In numerical analysis I remember our lecturer telling us this, I think it was only for hand-calculators and I must've mistaken it for programming languages. However in my calculator the answer is 1 which is an 'old solution style' design for hand-calculators from what I've just read. 

 

Google gives the result as 9, which is build in Java code. 

Huh, that’s interesting. Where are you from? I think I’ve heard that the way calculators are implemented for the order of division varies by country. Cause on my calculator I would get 9 (I didn’t try it for this one, but it’s the same ambiguity around the division symbol).

[Gerardo]

It’s 9, can’t believe some people are saying 1

[skysailing]

This problem is a classic example of the ambiguity that can arise in mathematical notation. The confusion often stems from the lack of clarity about the order of operations. In mathematics, we typically follow the BIDMAS/BODMAS/PEDMAS rule:

• BIDMAS: Brackets, Indices, Division and Multiplication (from left to right), Addition and Subtraction (from left to right).
• BODMAS: Brackets, Orders (i.e., powers and square roots, etc.), Division and Multiplication (from left to right), Addition and Subtraction (from left to right).
• PEDMAS: Parentheses, Exponents (ie Powers and Square Roots, etc.), Division and Multiplication (from left to right), Addition and Subtraction (from left to right).

According to these rules, operations in brackets/parentheses are done first, followed by exponents/orders/indices, then division and multiplication (from left to right), and finally addition and subtraction (from left to right).

 

So, applying these rules to the given problem:

 

6÷2(1+2)

 

First, we perform the operation in the parentheses:

 

6÷2(3)

 

Now, here's where the ambiguity comes in. If we interpret the problem as 6 divided by 2, and then multiply by 3, we get one answer. If we interpret it as 6 divided by the product of 2 and 3, we get a different answer.

 

The first interpretation follows the rule that multiplication and division should be performed from left to right, giving:

 

(6÷2)3 = 33 = 9

 

The second interpretation assumes that 2(3) should be calculated first because it's multiplication directly connected to parentheses, giving:

 

6÷(2*3) = 6÷6 = 1

 

Both interpretations are valid, and the ambiguity arises from the lack of explicit grouping symbols. To avoid such confusion, it's always a good idea to use parentheses to make the intended order of operations clear.

[Alldeezy]

10 hours ago, Gladiator said:

nope 

[Matthew4815]

It's most certainly 9.

 

You do 1+2 first then evaluate from left to right. So 6/2 * 3

[Walk_Away21]

10 hours ago, Cruel Summer said:

Problems written this way are intentionally designed to create arguments.

 

It's 1, because the implicit multiplication of 2(1+2) with the 2 directly adjacent to the parentheses takes priority over the division sign despite multiplication and division traditionally having equal priority under PEMDAS. But it's also 9, because implicit multiplication isn't universally agreed to take priority - many modern calculators (but not all) would evaluate this as 9.

 

In a serious textbook situation, either the answer would be 1 or this would be written as a fraction instead of with the ÷ symbol. They avoid this form because of the ambiguity.

These ******* purposefully obtuse math problems are a social media plague.

[McNulty]

It's 1

[Kayseri Mantisi]

It's literally 1

[smartalek22]

The thing that confuses me hear is I'm unsure whether the 2(1+2) is treated as a singular entity that outrules the the priority of division over multiplication because if this question was phrased as

 

6 ÷ 2 x (1 + 2) the answer would definitely be 9

 

but if i'm wrong IDK 

[HASHTAGPOW]

1 + 1 = 2

[smartalek22]

2 minutes ago, smartalek22 said:

The thing that confuses me hear is I'm unsure whether the 2(1+2) is treated as a singular entity that outrules the the priority of division over multiplication because if this question was phrased as

 

6 ÷ 2 x (1 + 2) the answer would definitely be 9

 

but if i'm wrong IDK 

 

confirms the correct answer but has some justification for the other answer too 

[Chris]

It's not 1?

 

Remind me of that MESSY (now deleted) thread of the math equation where people were being so nasty to each other.

 

 

Like you have no idea.

[Xtina23]

1