It completely depends on the interpretation of the priority of juxtaposed values.
The original sum requires clarification before answering completely.
FINISH
DONE
Hopefully we can all agree
Yes, with the caveat that I'm sticking to the answer given by Excel, SQL, IBM Cognos, SPSS & TM1. Since If I disagreed with them then my job would be impossible. And that answer is 288 :D
Biffo and Rave - sorry but you are totally wrong, probably because you were taught incorrectly.
2(9+3) is exactly the same as 2 x (9+3), i.e. 2 x 12 = 24 (where x is a multiplication sign). However, with literal numbers it should be written with a multiplication sign. It's only with a letter before the opening bracket that the multiplication sign should be omitted.
BTW it's not an equation and you can't solve it. It's an expression and you evaluate it. It isn't calculus, nor is it A level material. Forty years ago it would have been around the second year of secondary school but that may have changed now.
It completely depends on the interpretation of the priority of juxtaposed values.
The original sum requires clarification before answering completely.
FINISH
DONE
Hopefully we can all agree
Nope, I'm sticking with what I originally said!
I agree that it's ambiguous but just apply a little logic...
What is '2(9 + 3)' on its own? Remove the rest of the equation and what does '2(9 +3)' mean? The fact that it isn't seperated by '2 + (9 + 3)' or '2 * (9 + 3)' or any other arrangement, indicates that '2(9 + 3)' is a single 'a(x + y)' string and, as such, I'd work it out as follows
Biffo and Rave - sorry but you are totally wrong, probably because you were taught incorrectly.
2(9+3) is exactly the same as 2 x (9+3), i.e. 2 x 12 = 24 (where x is a multiplication sign). However, with literal numbers it should be written with a multiplication sign. It's only with a letter before the opening bracket that the multiplication sign should be omitted.
BTW it's not an equation and you can't solve it. It's an expression and you evaluate it. It isn't calculus, nor is it A level material. Forty years ago it would have been around the second year of secondary school but that may have changed now.
I still stand by what I say that it's 2. Simple BODMAS - you do the brackets first and that leaves 2.
BIB - Yep, it's around year 8/9 maths, depending on higher or lower sets, so it's not changed.
I agree that it's ambiguous but just apply a little logic...
What is '2(9 + 3)' on its own? Remove the rest of the equation and what does '2(9 +3)' mean? The fact that it isn't seperated by '2 + (9 + 3)' or '2 * (9 + 3)' or any other arrangement, indicates that '2(9 + 3)' is a single 'a(x + y)' string and, as such, I'd work it out as follows
The point of brackets is to clarify the expression to make clear what should be done first. But if you have a number outside, then this needs to be operated on everything inside the brackets :
So if you have: 2(9+3)
then this is the same as 2x9 + 2x3.
But this isnt clear, so we write this as : (2x9) + (2x3)
The point of brackets is to clarify the expression to make clear what should be done first. But if you have a number outside, then this needs to be operated on everything inside the brackets :
So if you have: 2(9+3)
then this is the same as 2x9 + 2x3.
But this isnt clear, so we write this as : (2x9) + (2x3)
So a clearer way to put the expression might be
48 ÷ ((2x9) + (2x3))
which equals 2.
Come on people... read this post ^. Husted is right.
Comments
Biffo and Rave - sorry but you are totally wrong, probably because you were taught incorrectly.
2(9+3) is exactly the same as 2 x (9+3), i.e. 2 x 12 = 24 (where x is a multiplication sign). However, with literal numbers it should be written with a multiplication sign. It's only with a letter before the opening bracket that the multiplication sign should be omitted.
BTW it's not an equation and you can't solve it. It's an expression and you evaluate it. It isn't calculus, nor is it A level material. Forty years ago it would have been around the second year of secondary school but that may have changed now.
I agree that it's ambiguous but just apply a little logic...
What is '2(9 + 3)' on its own? Remove the rest of the equation and what does '2(9 +3)' mean? The fact that it isn't seperated by '2 + (9 + 3)' or '2 * (9 + 3)' or any other arrangement, indicates that '2(9 + 3)' is a single 'a(x + y)' string and, as such, I'd work it out as follows
2(9 + 3)
=>2*9 + 2*3
=>18 + 6
=>24
2(9 + 3) = 24.
Ergo
48 / "2(9 + 3)" = 2 because it isn't seperated like:
48 / 2 + (9 + 3)
48 / 2 * (9 + 3)
or any other such arrangement which would lead to other answers.
I still stand by what I say that it's 2. Simple BODMAS - you do the brackets first and that leaves 2.
BIB - Yep, it's around year 8/9 maths, depending on higher or lower sets, so it's not changed.
THIS! I think Iove you..
God, I'm such a maths nerd
So if you have:
2(9+3)
then this is the same as
2x9 + 2x3.
But this isnt clear, so we write this as :
(2x9) + (2x3)
So a clearer way to put the expression might be
48 ÷ ((2x9) + (2x3))
which equals 2.
Hey, it's just my opinion! I dropped out of Maths when I was 15 so understand that I'm 'uneducated' but applying my own logic.
(But yeah, the answer is still 2)
Ah, but it's okay to add a multiplication sign which wasn't there before?
Like I said earlier, if you're going to say:
Well, 2(3+9) is the same as 2*(3+9)
What you should actually be saying is:
Well, 2(3+9) is the same as (2*(3+9))
work out the brackets and its associated number first which is
2 x 12 = 24
then work left to right
48 ÷ 24 = 2
Simples.
Or what is cojoined to them, without a multiplication sign separating them.
a(b+c) = (a*(b+c))
a(b+c) = ab + ac (the distribution rule) but no outer brackets are implied.
The numbers outside the brackets affect what's inside them. Numbers in the brackets don't affect anything else, which is why they are in brackets.
BODMAS - Brackets are first.
The 2 is attached to the bracket as no-one has put a multiplication sign there. 2(9+3) = (2x9)+(2x3)=24
48/24=2
48 lamb chops / 2(9+3) butchers
48 lamb chops / 24 butchers
2 each
48 lamb chops / 2(9+3) butchers
48 lamb chops/2 butchers * 12
288 each
= 48 ÷ 2 x 12
= 24 x 12
= 288
In BODMAS, division and multiplication have equal priority and there are no brackets around 2 x 12 so you work left to right.
But why haven't you calculated the brackets first?
The 2 is NOT separated from the brackets with a multiplcation symbol and therefore must be calculated WITH the brackets.
which would give
48 ÷ 2*9 + 2*3 = neither 288 or 2