Can you solve 8÷2(2+2)

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  • eldirector

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    Apr 29, 2009
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    8÷2(2+2)

    8 / 2(4)
    8 / 2 * 4
    4 * 4
    16

    PEMDAS
    Parens
    Exponents
    Multiplication/division (left to right)
    Addition/Subtraction (left to right)

    I suspect the missing multiplication sign between the 2 and the (2+2) throws some folks.

    BTW: MS Excel says 8/2*(2+2) = 16
     

    jkaetz

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    I'm with you guys but apparently we're all outdated...

    This is the best explanation I've seen.
    https://mindyourdecisions.com/blog/2019/07/31/what-is-8-÷-22-2-the-correct-answer-explained/

    My brain breaks it down as 8/(2*(2+2)) but everything I can find now (including most calculators, excel, and google sheets) breaks it down as (8/2)*(2+2)

    Now I know why excel frequently divides things wrong and requires me to add more parenthesis...


    Do they still teach the Order of Operations these days? Or did Common Core kill that for some other ****ed up thought process
    It appears to be a change in the way expressions are written in print. In our time everything after the division symbol was the denominator. Apparently not any more.
     

    eldirector

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    The issue is weather we treat 2 * X the same as 2 * (X). There is no strict rule, unfortunately.

    The CORRECT way to write the problem is either:
    8÷2 * (2+2)
    or
    8 / (2(2+2))

    Otherwise, it is open to interpretation, based on how you were taught.
     

    BugI02

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    You need to complete the evaluation of the parenthetic term before performing the division. The expression is most correctly equivalent to (2 x (2 + 2)). Think of it as a fraction with 2(2+2) in the denominator


    Edit:Corrected use of wrong term
     

    Usmccookie

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    This is stupid, millennials are stupid, common core is stupid. The answer is one and it seems like everyone here knows it.
     

    chezuki

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    Lol, the answer is and always has been 16. This has nothing to do with common core, and is not “new math”. You guys either don’t remember order of operations correctly, of you never really understood it.
     

    chezuki

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    8÷2(2+2)

    8 / 2(4)
    8 / 2 * 4
    4 * 4
    16

    PEMDAS
    Parens
    Exponents
    Multiplication/division (left to right)
    Addition/Subtraction (left to right)

    I suspect the missing multiplication sign between the 2 and the (2+2) throws some folks.

    BTW: MS Excel says 8/2*(2+2) = 16

    ^This guy gets it.
     

    ArcadiaGP

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    It ends up being

    8/2(4)... but once the parens are solved, they disappear. So it's 8 / 2 * 4...

    PEMDAS says MD are same, left-to-right... so it is 16.
     

    BugI02

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    8/2(X + X) ---> 8/2*2X ---> 8/4X --->2/X finish simplifying before solving. You can also think of it as a fraction and at 8/2(X + X) you can multiply both numerator and denominator by 0.5 and arrive at the same result
     

    ArcadiaGP

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    8/2(X + X) ---> 8/2*2X ---> 8/4X --->2/X finish simplifying before solving. You can also think of it as a fraction and at 8/2(X + X) you can multiply both numerator and denominator by 0.5 and arrive at the same result

    With your example, but not the OP example. We aren't solving for X
     
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