Poll of the Day > Why did 8/2(2+2) become a thing on the internet?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Is it just because people like to argue?

Insider wrote an article with the exact same problem just for you:

https://tinyurl.com/2p8fs8ve

I choose to believe people just like to argue and aren't stupid. I could be wrong.

People are bad at math and / or don't know how google operates.
Answer is obviously 16.
Anyone who answers 1 basically never completed middle school.

Judgmenl posted...

People are bad at math and / or don't know how google operates.
Answer is obviously 16.
Anyone who answers 1 basically never completed middle school.

thats a bit harsh mate calm down

Its like they taught us in school PEDMAS

Power
Enema
Down
My
Ass
Super Nintendo

Because some people look at PEMDAS as 6 steps where multiplication is done before division and addition is done before subtraction. Really, there are only 4 steps.

1. Parentheses
2. Exponents
3. Multiplication/Division from left to right
4. addition/subtraction from left to right

its just an easy mistake to make and if you havent been at school for a while you would try to multiply first instead of moving left to right.

RedSox342 posted...

3. Multiplication/Division from left to right

Yes, people forget this way too often. Math and division, and addition and subtraction, are on EQUAL level in PEMDAS. It is their position that indicates which should be done first. Imo, if you want the multiplication to be done first in the equation in the first post, you should have written it like:
8/(2(2+2)) = 1.
Your equation is currently saying 8/2x(2+2) -> 8/2x4 = 16.
*shrug* The extra () would clarify the equation. Honestly this is why I get a bit irritated at this question, because the best response to it is "Your equation is poorly written. Re-write it and ask me again; I'm not getting a "wrong answer" because YOU wrote a dumb question." ... which will get you swiftly sent to the office for being a smartass, of course.

All that said, I think a lot of people don't seem to know that math is a social construct. We abide by these standardized rules so that our equations all line up and produce the same outcomes, but there really is no reason why we could not change the order of operations (please fuck no god no). If you're in a church, btw, and the pastor starts spouting off nonsense about how mathematics are immutable and were created by god, you need to go to another church.

RedSox342 posted...

Because some people look at PEMDAS as 6 steps where multiplication is done before division and addition is done before subtraction. Really, there are only 4 steps.

Who teaches this?
This is not how math is taught.
Also it's 2022. The solution can be punched into a calculator. Literally everyone has a calculator on them at all times.
Literally anyone can look up an explanation of arithmetic operator priority.

Judgmenl posted...

Who teaches this?
This is not how math is taught.
Also it's 2022. The solution can be punched into a calculator. Literally everyone has a calculator on them at all times.
Literally anyone can look up an explanation of arithmetic operator priority.

even if you punched it in a calculator you could get it wrong because you could multiply 2* (2+2) instead of moving to the left after doing whats in the parentheses

its not taught that way but its a common misconception because in the acronym M is before D

But sometimes you gotta D before M

I've didn't know this is a "thing", it looks like just a simple order-of-operations expression that kids may've once seen in middle school.

It's intentionally designed to be a troll formula with the inconventional implied multiplication that looks like it's in the denominator. People in the internet are smart enough to argue forever about BODMAS vs DONBASS, but they're not smart enough to realize when someone's intentionally writing things in a weird way to troll. The end result is people arguing with fervent conviction about trees while missing the forest.

The Incredibles 2?

it's 16. Anyone who doesn't say it's 16 doesn't know math. It's that simple

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/3/3/1/AAPJ8lAADSxj.jpg
/topic

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/3/3/8/AAKxI1AADSxq.jpg

Maybe I should call everyone else morons to peer pressure them into doubting themselves and accepting this is correct. That's how you win internet arguments.

For the uninitiated, the question isnt some pass/fail "gotcha" test about order of operations, it's about a poorly expressed equation that can be interpreted two different ways.

^ That is not how you do math.
That is 8(2(2+2)). You added an additional set of parenthesis for no apparent reason.

If you have issues doing it the way you're doing it (I don't know why you'd break the problem up like this), just use a calculator:
https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=8%2F2%282%2B2%29

I know I'm being hard on people but I literally failed every math course I took in college.

Judgmenl posted...

^ That is not how you do math. That is 8/(2(2+2)). You added an additional set of parenthesis for no apparent reason.

Or or or perhaps whoever posed the question was presented with my equation, plugged it into a calculator improperly and got the wrong result, then they brought it to the internet. Again it's poorly expressed, by all accounts your interpretation is missing parentheses and should be (8/2)(2+2). Clarity is everything in math, which is why nobody writes equations like in the original question.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


It's not true according to Order of Operations (those rules are clear and unambiguous), but it's still a poor way to express the equation because it's unclear whether the author actually meant to write it that way or if they just forgot the extra parentheses that would be needed to say what they're trying to say.

The math is clear. The human element is not, and that means it's being communicated poorly. Best practice for something like this is to group all the multiplication steps on their respective sides and use redundant parentheses wherever they can add extra clarity. It's not mathematically necessary, but it helps communicate better, and that's just generally a good idea unless you're deliberately trying to come up with trick questions to test people's understanding.

Veedrock- posted...

Again it's poorly expressed

Math cannot be poorly expressed.

adjl posted...

It's not true according to Order of Operations (those rules are clear and unambiguous), but it's still a poor way to express the equation because it's unclear whether the author actually meant to write it that way or if they just forgot the extra parentheses that would be needed to say what they're trying to say.

The math is clear. The human element is not, and that means it's being communicated poorly. Best practice for something like this is to group all the multiplication steps on their respective sides and use redundant parentheses wherever they can add extra clarity. It's not mathematically necessary, but it helps communicate better, and that's just generally a good idea unless you're deliberately trying to come up with trick questions to test people's understanding.

For some reason I can't paste your quoted message into my edit box...
He is declaring there are two or more answers to the question. I think that you're missing the point. Or at least that's what I'm guessing Zang got out of it too.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


More accurately, when it's written that way, it's hard to tell whether the person writing it meant to write it that way or if they made a mistake. Again, the math is not ambiguous, but the intent is. That equation equals 16, but because of how it's written, there's reason to suspect that the person writing it actually meant to get an answer of 1. That means it's poorly communicated.

Judgmenl posted...

Math cannot be poorly expressed.

Anything can be poorly expressed. Any time somebody says something that has a significant chance of being interpreted differently from what they intend, they've poorly expressed it. Math is no exception. Communicating effectively has to take your audience's expected interpretations and responses into account.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


That's where this particular brand of trolling comes in, but it's still best practice to avoid writing equations like that to make the intent clear and reduce the risk of people making mistakes.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

Oof. You need a new gimmick.

adjl posted...

That's where this particular brand of trolling comes in, but it's still best practice to avoid writing equations like that to make the intent clear and reduce the risk of people making mistakes.

I wouldn't agree that it's trolling but it's definitely in bad faith.

Judgmenl posted...

I wouldn't agree that it's trolling but it's definitely in bad faith.

It's 100% trolling. It gets brought up pretty much purely because whoever's saying it knows that some people will get it wrong, but will believe in their error strongly enough to argue with people that get it right.

I got 30

Anyone that answers 1 is wrong. You need to relearn how to math.
P
E
MD
AS
8/2x(2+2)

So we would do the 2+2 first and get 4
8/2x4 is left
Then we have multiple and divide on the same level so they are done left to right.
8/2 is done first and we get 4
so we have 4 x 4 left and come up with 16.

That is an ambiguously written formula. Please write your formulas correctly.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/8/1/0/AAQwHjAADTIq.jpg

Judgmenl posted...

Who teaches this?
This is not how math is taught.

Everyone, AFAIK

Please
Excuse
My Dear
Aunt Sally

I remember it well Math was my favorite subject, too But thats how its taught At least, when I went through

Anyway, its 16

Unless you want to say its 8 over 2(2+2) But if thats the case, they should have written it differently Like (8)/(2(2+2)) But 16 seems more reasonable

captpackrat posted...

That is an ambiguously written formula. Please write your formulas correctly.

No it's not.
Stop trolling.

LinkPizza posted...

Unless you want to say its 8 over 2(2+2) But if thats the case, they should have written it differently Like (8)/(2(2+2)) But 16 seems more reasonable

Please stop trolling.

Judgmenl posted...

Please stop trolling.

No one is trolling. Stop people to stop trolling when they aren't trolling... It can literally be seen both ways. But because of how they wrote it, it should be 16. But it literally can be seen the other way. But in this case, i think it's written in the way where it answers 16...

These sorts of problems always involve the same little tricks that confuse people. There's always division and parenthesis

If you say the equation out loud, eight divided by two times 4, it sounds like you multiple two and four first.

Except it's 8/2 * (2+2)
Like I don't understand why people don't understand this.
Like do you not see the implied multiplication?
Did you not learn that parenthesis is implied multiplication?

Judgmenl posted...

Except it's 8/2 * (2+2)
Like I don't understand why people don't understand this.
Like do you not see the implied multiplication?
Did you not learn that parenthesis is implied multiplication?

Thats not the problem. We all know its 16 the way we see it. We are saying that because of how its written it could also be written like show on captpackrats calculator. To say its couldnt be like that would be absolutely wrong. I think its written in the way the answer is 16. But theres a non-zero chance that it could be written the other way, as well

PEDMAS? I remember BEDMAS:

Brackets
Exponents
Division
Multiplication
Addition
Subtraction.

Also, I get these wrong because I promised my brain not to do any more math equations in my head. It also took me longer then I care to admit to remember how to spell equations.

Parenthesis and brackets are pretty similar

faz posted...

PEDMAS? I remember BEDMAS:

https://i.gyazo.com/319be313a4e7ab3cb0db12597f90ceb9.png
https://i.gyazo.com/d99de34d84ea14413f4e9e365f6adde2.png

never even heard of BEDMAS before but it's the exact same thing anyways

Judgmenl posted...

Except it's 8/2 * (2+2)
Like I don't understand why people don't understand this.
Like do you not see the implied multiplication?
Did you not learn that parenthesis is implied multiplication?

Again, it's not an issue of what's written. It's an issue of it being unclear whether that's what the author meant to write or not. Outside of a context where I'd expect order of operations to be used properly (math textbooks, internet trolling like this, etc.), I'd actually be more inclined to assume that the author forgot the extra set of parentheses needed for 8/(2(2+2)) than that they really meant what they wrote, especially where it's so common for hand-written equations to treat division as a higher-level form of organization than multiplication (namely by writing the divisor over the dividend) despite the operations happening simultaneously.

Consider a linguistic analog: If I were to talk about the affects of this discussion, most people would assume I just picked the wrong homophone(ish) of "effect," even though what I wrote suggests that I was commenting on the emotional states of those involved. The word choice does not leave room for interpretation, but the involvement of humans and their potential for error does.

They write the math formula out deliberately obtuse, so a bunch of people can look like fools on an elementary school problem. Pretty high quality trolling.