Can you solve the right number?

["Misfit"]

What the fuck is Bidmas?

I think he means BODMAS

 

[speedfreek67]

BIDMAS or BODMAS

The proper order of mathematical operations.

Brackets
Orders/Indices
Division
Multiplication
Addition
Subtraction

When doing maths, always work in this order. Solve anything in brackets first. Then anything raised to powers (squared, cubed etc), then do the division, the multiplication, the addition and subtraction. It's the only way you'll get the correct answer.

Say you have 3 + 9 x 4. The answer is 39, not 48.

 

[knome]

What the fuck is Bidmas?

It's between Black Friday and Christmas, excepting Cyber Monday... possibly... wibble...

 

[Leni]

Say you have 3 + 9 x 4. The answer is 39, not 48.

Ooh. I’d have answered 48. I just thought you did the calculations from left to right, so the additions first (3+9) and then multiplied the result (12) by 4. I don’t remember being taught any of that, it must’ve been when I was going through my phase of skipping classes...

Good God, every day’s a school day on this bloody forum

 

[speedfreek67]

Ooh. I’d have answered 48. I just thought you did the calculations from left to right, so the additions first (3+9) and then multiplied the result (12) by 4. I don’t remember being taught any of that, it must’ve been when I was going through my phase of skipping classes...

Good God, every day’s a school day on this bloody forum

Well, maths problems are often badly expressed.

There is no ambiguity in
(3 + 9) x 4 = 48
3 + (9 x 4) = 39

But without those brackets there could be 2 possible answers, so there needs to be a set way to approach the problem.

 

[MHL]

I know it's the accepted way. But I don't really like it or agree with it. It would make more sense to me to resolve the ambiguity by doing it in linear order.

 

[speedfreek67]

I know it's the accepted way. But I don't really like it or agree with it. It would make more sense to me to resolve the ambiguity by doing it in linear order.

But when you think about the operations you are performing, and what mathematics actually represents, why should left to right make any difference as opposed to right to left?

 

[MHL]

But when you think about the operations you are performing, and what mathematics actually represents, why should left to right make any difference as opposed to right to left?

It's just not intuitive. There may be a reasoning to it that I'm not aware of, but the rule seems arbitrary to me. And if you're going to do arbitrary, you may as well choose the intuitive option.

 

[zouzounaki]

But when you think about the operations you are performing, and what mathematics actually represents, why should left to right make any difference as opposed to right to left?

Mathematical statements run from left to right, no?

4 / 2 = 2, as opposed to 4 / 2 = 0.5

 

[speedfreek67]

Mathematical statements run from left to right, no?

4 / 2 = 2, as opposed to 4 / 2 = 0.5

Yes, in general. Well, *operations* do.
But the *order* of operations supercedes that.

4 + 4 / 2 = 6