Wow... didn't know that I had fellow Math Geeks here

[supersuk]

that most of us think its 2 but 288 is probably the correct answer

[Duncan]

i think it really depends on how you write the equation

[Wetundies]

Depends on which calculator u use.

[joel]

why do people assume that you distribute only the 2? Using distributive properties you can distribute the 24...
also the distributive property is not about the order of operations but simply provides a tool to factor out values especially in regards to polynomials.

[supersuk]

[jeSteR]

It depends on how you write the equation then as

48÷2(9+x)=y would not be considered a poorly written question, because in this case, you are encouraged to use the distributive properties to resolve the equation to find out what x equals relative to y...

but that could yield you two results as well. I would challenge though that more people would find in this example that

x=24/y -9 concluding that y=2 given x=3

vs

x=(y-216)/24 concluding that y=288 given x=3

Still, I think that 288 is the right answer.

[joel]

i think there's a tendency to assume that 2 is the coefficient factor because how the question is asked. The question almost looks like a polynomial equation and the brain associates it with that type of processing. In general, it wants to figure out the 2(9+3) part first and it's counter-intuitive to separate the 2 from the parentheses. But I still believe standard order of operations for arithmetic solves the question as 288.

[nature boy]

[joel]

288 takes the lead by one vote.

[Wetundies]

So they had a similar question on the TW news yesterday. 6/2(1+2)=1 or 9.

The answer was 9. A math professor explained that it should be calculated as 6/2*3.

150 million ppl in the world comes up with the wrong answer.

[geForce]

How would you solve:

2(20+4) / 2(9+3) =

Would that necessitate 2 * 24 be calculated first? If yes, then:

48 / 2(9+3) =

That would necessitate that 2 * 12 be calculated first too right?

[joel]

In the first scenario i would multiply 2 * 24 first yes. Because it is the first multiplication or division from left to right. i would also divide 48 by 2 and then multiply the resulting 24 by 12. I would not simplify it to 48 divided by 24.

In the second case I would multiply 24 * 12 second. The reasoning does not have to do with the distributive short form of putting a co-efficient adjacent to parenthesis. But the standard order of operations from left to right of multiplication or division.

[geForce]

Actually, I got myself confused when I was posing that question... that's what I meant to say.

It should be calculated as if written as:

2 * (20+4) ÷ 2 * (9+3)

Or

2 * 24 ÷ 2 * 12

In the original question:

48 ÷ 2 * 12

[nature boy]

hey guys, i think we better let aron ralston handle this one.

1306282521232.jpg (125.88 KiB) Viewed 899 times

[nature boy]

bump from the dead!

so a friend of mine posted this pic on facebook:

601074_565492506796662_1512679749_n.jpg (15.01 KiB) Viewed 787 times

aside from the horrible grammar, many people commented (like hundreds) said that it was 18. obviously wrong. many said 12. i'd say that's right. but a select few said that it was 6 and swore at people who didn't use the PEDMAS, which they say means addition comes before subtraction in all cases. because you know, the A comes before the S.

i lol'ed.