Poll: What is the answer to 48/2(9+3)?

[Daverson]

2(9+3) = 24
48/24 = 2

That's pretty standard. You'd be better off writing it like this:
48
--
2(9+3)
To avoid confusion with this:
48
--(9+3)
2
Which would be written like this (42/2)(9+3)

(Gah, stupid unicode not showing up right... should be able to use U+2015 instead of minus signs to denote division...)

 

[b3nn3tt]

The answer is 2. When following PEMDAS/BODMAS you need to solve brackets first. This doesn't mean reduce the contents within the brackets to a single number, but removing the brackets completely.

Thus, not only do you need to solve 9+3 to get 12 first, you also need to solve 2(12) because this is still part of solving brackets. This gives you 24.

The fact that this method also backs up the implied format that this is a fraction, where both parts automatically imply brackets, means it is the correct solution. The question is best viewed as (48)/(2(9+3)).

To reach the answer as 288, the question would have to be written as (48/2)(9+3), which is such a deviation from the norm, that it would have to specifically written as such.

Oh, and for the record, 48/2x 24x. The correct answer is 24/x. 48x/2 = 24x. Thus, using substitution, we still arrive at the answer 2 for this equation, given that x=9+3 or 12.

This. Also, does anyone else think that maybe the question is a troll, given how ambiguously it's written?

I read it that the 2(9+3) was its own entity; ie. you have to multiply it out, rather than treating the 2 as the bottom of a bracket and the (9+3) as a separate multiplier. So, doing it this way, you get 2(9+3)=(2x9)+(2x3)=24. You then divide 48 by this, giving you 2

I think the main dispute here comes from the reading of the question. Personally, I'm interested in knowing if this is a cultural thing. I'm English, and I'm curious as to whether the other people who got 2 as their answer are also English, or at least European

 

[Insomniac55]

It's 288. You would only consider 2(9+3) to be entirely in the denominator if it was written that way, which it isn't in text form. If you wrote it by hand it would be much less ambiguous.

As written, it reads like this, leading to an answer of 288:

48
---- x (9+3)
2


As opposed to:

48
----------
2(9+3)

Which obviously equals 2.

There is NOTHING in the question, as written, to suggest that the second form is true. Therefore the convention is to read it the first way.




Also,

The answer is 2. When following PEMDAS/BODMAS you need to solve brackets first. This doesn't mean reduce the contents within the brackets to a single number, but removing the brackets completely.

This is completely wrong. You simplify what's inside of the brackets first, then you treat the simplified result as a regular term which has the operation outside of it applied according to the correct order of operations in regards to the whole question.

And regardless, in this question there is no 2(9+3). 48/2(9+3) is the SAME as (48/2)(9+3). It is NOT the same as 48/(2(9+3)). The reason we don't use the second set of brackets when we handwrite 48/(2(9+3)), is because the length of the fraction bar (correctly called a vinculum) implies which numbers are grouped together. When using a forward slash, this is no longer the case so we assume that it is to be read as (48/2)(9+3), which can also be written as 48(9+3))/2.

I'm not an expert, but I am doing 3 units of math and am halfway through my HSC course... and this is all pretty basic stuff.

 

[Insomniac55]

Double post, delete.

 

[SnowCold]

It can be either 48/(2(9+3)) or (48/2)(9+3), so both answers are right

 

[RonHiler]

The answer is 2. When following PEMDAS/BODMAS you need to solve brackets first. This doesn't mean reduce the contents within the brackets to a single number, but removing the brackets completely.

Thus, not only do you need to solve 9+3 to get 12 first, you also need to solve 2(12) because this is still part of solving brackets. This gives you 24.

The fact that this method also backs up the implied format that this is a fraction, where both parts automatically imply brackets, means it is the correct solution. The question is best viewed as (48)/(2(9+3)).

To reach the answer as 288, the question would have to be written as (48/2)(9+3), which is such a deviation from the norm, that it would have to specifically written as such.

Oh, and for the record, 48/2x 24x. The correct answer is 24/x. 48x/2 = 24x. Thus, using substitution, we still arrive at the answer 2 for this equation, given that x=9+3 or 12.

A nice argument. Sadly, completely wrong. The correct answer, as the question is written, is 288. If you think it is anything else, you need to break open a 5th grade math book.

The very fact that there is any controversy about this at all is very sad. OTOH, it means my job is secure from the upcoming generation. Clearly they don't have the math skills to do what I do

Also, if you don't want to take my word for it, just type this into Excel: =48/2*(9+3)

It's clearly 2. How can so many people get this wrong?

Oh, the irony.

 

[AWDMANOUT]

Calculator says it's 288.

Calculator is undisputed overlord of all things mathematic.

Answer is 288.

 

[funguy2121]

ribeye.

 

[GladeAnator]

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=48%2F2(9%2B3)

 

[DaMullet]

To those people who say the answer is 2,
If 48/2(9+3)=2,
then 48/2/(9+3)=?

Heh. Yep, that just about proves it.

The exponent is 48/2 and the bracket is (9+3)

Simplified the question would be 24(12)

and the answer is 288.

Using the same method with 48/2/(9+3) is

48/2/12 = 2


48/2*(9+3) != 48/2/(9+3)

 

[Rough Sausage]

48
______ = 2 = 48/(2(9+3))
2(9+3)



48
__ * (9+3) = 288 = 48/2(9+3)
2

It's all about how you write it. Hopefully, from the above, you can see the answer to the question posed is 288, otherwise the brackets in the first equation are meaningless.

It's 288. You would only consider 2(9+3) to be entirely in the denominator if it was written that way, which it isn't in text form. If you wrote it by hand it would be much less ambiguous.

As written, it reads like this, leading to an answer of 288:

48
---- x (9+3)
2


As opposed to:

48
----------
2(9+3)

Which obviously equals 2.

There is NOTHING in the question, as written, to suggest that the second form is true. Therefore the convention is to read it the first way.




Also,

The answer is 2. When following PEMDAS/BODMAS you need to solve brackets first. This doesn't mean reduce the contents within the brackets to a single number, but removing the brackets completely.

This is completely wrong. You simplify what's inside of the brackets first, then you treat the simplified result as a regular term which has the operation outside of it applied according to the correct order of operations in regards to the whole question.

And regardless, in this question there is no 2(9+3). 48/2(9+3) is the SAME as (48/2)(9+3). It is NOT the same as 48/(2(9+3)). The reason we don't use the second set of brackets when we handwrite 48/(2(9+3)), is because the length of the fraction bar (correctly called a vinculum) implies which numbers are grouped together. When using a forward slash, this is no longer the case so we assume that it is to be read as (48/2)(9+3), which can also be written as 48(9+3))/2.

I'm not an expert, but I am doing 3 units of math and am halfway through my HSC course... and this is all pretty basic stuff.

Damn, beat me to it, I probably should have at least read the last page before posting what I posted

 

[TheBoulder]

Why are there more 4-chan threads popping up now?
Also PEMDAS people, remember it.

 

[Oversized Peg]

We were always taught if you were going to write / the numerator should be slightly superscript and the denominator slightly subscript to avoid this misunderstanding. Personally I think it's 2 because to get 288 the question would have to be (48/2)(3+9).

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Also, can everyone stop calling the brackets parenthesis? Parenthesis is a grammatical term. It has nothing to do with mathematics. Parentheses can be dashes, commas or brackets. These are just brackets.

Language difference. Webster's (American English) call brackets parenthesis.

The main difference here isn't BODMAS, but text.

If / means "divide", then we're working out (48/2)(9+3)
If / means "divides by", then we're working out 48/(2(9+3))

BODMAS clearly points to the first, but it depends how you determine what "/" means in text.

 

[Skratt]

Nevermind, it is 288. *rethinks PEMDAS*