Current Events > Okay I'm not crazy right? The answer to this math problem is 1 right?

(+) Yeah! (+)

MedeaLysistrata posted...

Leave me alone please

Ok

Order of operations are just conventions. They're not hard rules set by any governing body. They're not a fundamental property of mathematics or anything like that. Anyone in the real world writing out this formula so as to make it practically useful to someone else probably wouldn't write it that way.

UnsteadyOwl posted...

Order of operations are just conventions. They're not hard rules set by any governing body. They're not a fundamental property of mathematics or anything like that. Anyone in the real world writing out this formula so as to make it practically useful to someone else probably wouldn't write it that way.

The formula is written practically and the only correct answer is 9.

majin_nemesis posted...

it's actually 9
the expression is with brackets would be (62)x(1+2) not 6(2(1+2)) not sure why you assume that 6 is dividing by everything,6 is only dividing by 2

I assume it because 2(1+2) is bundled as a single term, so, it makes sense that it would be 6 divided by the complete term. I even pointed out that the syntax is so ambiguous that 9 could be a valid answer. But as a physics student, we're taught to use fraction notation so that ambiguities like this are mitigated.

If they intend for 6 to be divided by just 2, a better way of expressing it would be to explicitly include multiplication signs. So, the question would be: 6 2 (1 +2).
sauceje posted...

People who pose questions like this and write math equations like this are just looking to stir shit up, ignore them

Also, this.

splodeymissile posted...

I assume it because 2(1+2) is bundled as a single term, so, it makes sense that it would be 6 divided by the complete term. I even pointed out that the syntax is so ambiguous that 9 could be a valid answer. But as a physics student, we're taught to use fraction notation so that ambiguities like this are mitigated.

2(1+2) means 2*3. Its not ambiguous, youre just wrong.

If they intend for 6 to be divided by just 2, a better way of expressing it would be to explicitly include multiplication signs. So, the question would be: 6 2 (1 +2).

Also, this.

No, youre just wrong. X(Y) means X*Y. The multiplication *is* included.

Skankhair posted...

The formula is written practically and the only correct answer is 9.

Again, order of operations are conventions, not rules. Because they were taught to you as rules in elementary school doesn't mean they are outside of that context.

9

radical_rhino posted...

The answer is that any scientist or engineer who would write an equation using the division sign would deserve to be fired.

and this

UnsteadyOwl posted...

Again, order of operations are conventions, not rules. Because they were taught to you as rules in elementary school doesn't mean they are outside of that context.

They are rules as much as 1+1=2. The symbols are defined. Again, youre just wrong.

What's with Skankhair waking up and being like this.

CyricZ posted...

What's with Skankhair waking up and being like this.

Waking up? Still up. Still correct.

Please excuse my dear aunt Sally

Skankhair posted...

Waking up? Still up. Still correct.

Oh that's the problem.

Get some sleep man.

CyricZ posted...

Oh that's the problem.

Get some sleep man.

No, the problem is 62(1+2)=? and the only correct answer is 9.

hmm the answer is 9 according to my calculator, but the way i remember learning in school i would have said 1

TehLizardKing posted...

hmm the answer is 9 according to my calculator, but the way i remember learning in school i would have said 1

You remembered wrong.

This topic read as expected

UnsteadyOwl posted...

Again, order of operations are conventions, not rules. Because they were taught to you as rules in elementary school doesn't mean they are outside of that context.

What the dumb shit is this? They aren't conventions, they are rules for Mathematical notation.

I have 6 apples, 1 banana, and 2 oranges, if I say I want you to give me a number of peaches equal to half my number of apples times the total number of bananas and oranges, then you need a way to form the equation such that everyone can repeatedly get the same answer. which leads to PEMDAS.

9

Here's the answer. I don't like it, but it is 9.

https://youtu.be/URcUvFIUIhQ

The way I learned math in school, in Denmark so our maths might just be different, unique, special, and unimaginably superior, when you have a paranthesis with a number in front of it, you multiply the contents of the parenthesis with said number as the first priority of operations.

So 2(1+2) is solved as 1x2 + 2x2 = 6

So 6 divided by 6 = 1

BurmesePenguin posted...

The way I learned math in school, in Denmark so our maths might just be different, unique, special, and unimaginably superior, when you have a paranthesis with a number in front of it, you multiply the contents of the parenthesis with said number as the first priority of operations.

So 2(1+2) is solved as 1x2 + 2x2 = 6

So 6 divided by 6 = 1

In Denmark the correct answer is 9. You are simply mistaken.

The reason it's kind of brain breaking is because it's defined in a way to mess with your understanding of the commutative property. The commutative property states that order of multiplication doesn't matter to the end result. However, your brain is saying division is the same thing, but it isn't, so when you decide to order your operations to "deal with" the smaller numbers first, you wind up at 1.

The way to "make it work" with the commutative property is to convert everything to multiplication. To do this, we replace the "divided by 2" with a fractional multiplication instead.

6 * 1/2 * ( 2 + 1 )

This eliminates any confusion and any following of the standard order of operations will turn up at the same result, thanks to the commutative property.

BurmesePenguin posted...

The way I learned math in school, in Denmark so our maths might just be different, unique, special, and unimaginably superior, when you have a paranthesis with a number in front of it, you multiply the contents of the parenthesis with said number as the first priority of operations.

So 2(1+2) is solved as 1x2 + 2x2 = 6

So 6 divided by 6 = 1

The higher up in math you go the more likely you are to return an answer of 1 to that question. But those kinds of questions purposely use horrible syntax that mixes elementary school math in a way you wouldn't encounter from someone who WASN'T trying to troll.

MedeaLysistrata posted...

There are at least two ways to write that problem and neither is the one in the OP

Also that

I took up to graduate level math in university and this is the kind of stuff we would write to take the piss. It's not good or proper notation

PEMDAS is a lie?

Gwynevere posted...

Also that

I took up to graduate level math in university and this is the kind of stuff we would write to take the piss. It's not good or proper notation

Yeah, I work in a field that's heavy on math and I can't imagine anyone I work with actually writing a formula the way it appears in that tweet.

DuneMan posted...

The higher up in math you go the more likely you are to return an answer of 1 to that question. But those kinds of questions purposely use horrible syntax that mixes elementary school math in a way you wouldn't encounter from someone who WASN'T trying to troll.

This is how math problems wete written in school for me. Theres no ambiguity to me or sense of trolling. I only learned people felt differently when math trolling became a meme.

UnsteadyOwl posted...

Yeah, I work in a field that's heavy on math and I can't imagine anyone I work with actually writing a formula the way it appears in that tweet.

The way it is written is unambiguous and the only correct answer is 9. You being fooled and confused by it doesnt change anything.

HeroFlyChao posted...

PEMDAS is a lie?

Following it letter-by-letter is. It's broken up more like P-E-MD-AS. Multiplication and Division are meant to be undertaken in the same step, as are Addition and Subtraction.

The MD step is also required to be worked left to right, as division is not affected by the commutative property, as this problem shows.

There's a special place in hell reserved for people who intentionally write math equations to be as ambiguous as possible just to stir up pointless arguments like this one.

ANort175 posted...

There's a special place in hell reserved for people who intentionally write math equations to be as ambiguous as possible just to stir up pointless arguments like this one.

Its not written in an ambiguous way. Youre just wrong.

Math is made up.

my take on this

1. write math properly, OP fails horribly at this, learn from OPs mistake and do better! don't be a Shankhair (enabler)
2. order of operations is bad math, parenthesis is good math, use parenthesis, preferably always even if only remotely applicable, it's always worth doing properly, never rely on bad math to do math, always use good math
3. shortcuts in math such as multiplication is magically and invisibly implied before parenthesis or MDAS etc. is always bad because they always create more problems than they solve, as they always force everyone to remember larger amounts of additional contextual rules to make sense of the (far too many) "shortcuts"!

a vast majority of people don't have perfect lifelong memory of every single individual abbreviation, their meanings, plus all their additional contextual rules, as they rarely use in everyday normal life and were only ever taught once when they were children/teens
relying on these shortcuts as a norm form society is the worst thing we can do with this well known fact in mind
so always write important things out in math so there can be no misconceptions and misunderstandings
never leave math to be implied, always be honest and clear about your math, never assume others will do the work for you like a lazy imbecile
drawing a handful of extra lines to completely and perfectly eradicate all problems and make it crystal clear to everyone what your math is saying is always the right thing to do and it's never too much work, let's not pretend otherwise, I for one refuse to pretend otherwise, no exceptions

math should be a universal language
garbage like these differently locally taught shortcuts around the world hinders that from becoming a practical reality for all os us
it's a practice that should be internationally banned from use and shunned by all of us

I enable correct answers to unambiguous math problems.

The answer is 5

Skankhair posted...

2(1+2) means 2*3. Its not ambiguous, youre just wrong.

No, youre just wrong. X(Y) means X*Y. The multiplication *is* included.

Let me be more clear. I'm not denying the implied existence of a multiplication operation. I'm pointing out that explicitly including the sign would make it clear whether the coefficient and the bracket are meant to be separate terms. If they are meant to be separate, the answer is 9. If it's a combined term, the answer is 1.

An alternative way to think about it is to use substitution. If we allow A to equal 1 + 2, then the question becomes 6 2A. Which would have to be reframed as 6/2A because 2A is now clearly a single term. Reexpanding our arbitrary symbol would then give 6/(2(1 + 2)). Again, the only reason this question exists is to troll people over the fact that BIDMAS, in the simplistic form usually taught in schools, is incapable of properly accounting for every conceivable maths problem.

I haven't taken a math class since 1991, so this is a hard pass for me

Damn_Underscore posted...

is bad notation. If it was written properly as

6
_____
2(3)

Then the answer would be 1

This is correct. The thing is the people saying 9 know they are wrong and are simply stirring shit.

Damn_Underscore posted...

is bad notation. If it was written properly as

6
_____
2(3)

Then the answer would be 1

But it isn't written as 6 divided by 6.
It's written as 6 divided by 2 times 3

It makes more sense if you distribute the 2 to the terms inside the parentheses first. It becomes 6/(2+4). That avoids the jumbled syntax.

FunWithAFryPan posted...

It makes more sense if you distribute the 2 to the terms inside the parentheses first. It becomes 6/(2+4). That avoids the jumbled syntax.

That's what the syntax is telling you to do. There's a reason everyone who works in a math-heavy field gives one answer and grammar school pedants like Skankhair give the wrong answer.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/2/9/6/AAWHuqAAEjFo.jpg

splodeymissile posted...

I assume it because 2(1+2) is bundled as a single term, so, it makes sense that it would be 6 divided by the complete term. I even pointed out that the syntax is so ambiguous that 9 could be a valid answer. But as a physics student, we're taught to use fraction notation so that ambiguities like this are mitigated.

If they intend for 6 to be divided by just 2, a better way of expressing it would be to explicitly include multiplication signs. So, the question would be: 6 2 (1 +2).

except 6 2 (1 +2) = 6 2 (1 +2)

the multiplication is still there even if the sign isn't shown

These topics should result in an immediate suspension.

willythemailboy posted...

That's what the syntax is telling you to do. There's a reason everyone who works in a math-heavy field gives one answer and grammar school pedants like Skankhair give the wrong answer.

Not correct, the problem is that math heavy fields start to confuse the rules of variables with the rules of math. 2x is not the same a 2 * x, but 2(4) is the same as 2 * 4.

Why do these topics continue to get so many posts despite being the same format for almost 20 years

realnifty1 posted...

Not correct, the problem is that math heavy fields start to confuse the rules of variables with the rules of math. 2x is not the same a 2 * x, but 2(4) is the same as 2 * 4.

Do you realize how silly your post sounds?

The people who do this for a living do it wrong, but what I learned in grammar school is correct.

God help us if people thought grammar school anatomy was correct and the entire medical field was wrong. Or physics, or any number of other fields.

Implies we havent had things ruined because of failed math.

I'm not even good at math and even I figured 9.

Did yall never learn BEDMAS?

Its 1