So You Think You Can Math

Hakoria

Laon King

Location: gmt+1

Joined: Apr 03 2011

Add extra parenthesis couple and get the answer you want.

That's my weapon. I vote for = 1

wayfaerer

"Embrace your dreams."

Location: The Lifestream

Joined: Apr 03 2011

w
t
f

for so many reasons

musenji

Joined: Feb 02 2010

Yeah, I was gonna say, I thought * and / held the same "rank".

Parhelion

Joined: Mar 02 2009

Jacob31593 said

no name calling
no eye gouging
no hitting below the belt
no lonlonjp

Wait a minute...I didn't see this before. Is this the work of mods?!

yashakenkyaku

Joined: Nov 24 2009

I thought it went
6/2(1+2)
6/2(3)
6/6
1

Bhael

Location: Newcastle, UK

Joined: Feb 18 2010

You did all learn this in an early grade of school right?

Arrogance % Deceit (Tabs + YouTube) = Someone

Hakoria

Laon King

Location: gmt+1

Joined: Apr 03 2011

I figured, since it'd be 6/2(1+2) -> 6/[(2x1)+(2x2)] = 6/(2+4) = 6/6 = 1

But yeah, guess x & / could be of equal importance since + & - are, so too bad ;n; will stick to using fraction horizontal bar when dividing and this ambiguity wouldn't happen.

karathrow

Joined: Oct 26 2010

Hakoria said

I figured, since it'd be 6/2(1+2) -> 6/[(2x1)+(2x2)] = 6/(2+4) = 6/6 = 1

But yeah, guess x & / could be of equal importance since + & - are, so too bad ;n; will stick to using fraction horizontal bar when dividing and this ambiguity wouldn't happen.

There's no reason to add the second set of brackets. At that point you are fundamentally changing the equation

6/2(1+2) is not equivalent to 6/[(2x1)+(2x2)]

The mistake is assuming that 2(3) is a parentheses process when it is a multiplication process. You are multiplying 2*3, you are not performing any operation within a parentheses.

It's not really ambiguous because that implies that there is no right answer.

6/2(1+2)=6/2*3

When reading in this format you go left to right and the answer is 9.

Ranulf

I will not join your gametabs.

Joined: Oct 15 2009

Karathrow, you're thinking of the equation like the one on the right in the op, when it is actually the one on the left. So the answer is one. Don't use the horizontal division, it makes it confusing.

hslesperance

Location: Walpole, MA

Joined: Aug 10 2008

Everybody wins!

But I still say the answer is 9

iamHoustonian

You don’t need to see my identification…

Joined: Oct 03 2011

If I remember sixth grade correctly, I thought Distributive Property always comes first.
Thus making the answer 1, but I guess 9 could be argued as well :)

auriplane

Joined: Sep 06 2008

It is surprising how many people think division right-associates. I'd guess it's because when you write e.g. 2÷3(x), they picture the ÷ (or the /) as visually dividing the whole expression into two pieces like a large vinculum, which by convention it does not. So it's intuitive, but wrong. Division has the same precedence as multiplication, so it can't right-associate unless multiplication does--which it doesn't.

Whereas in 2÷3x, there's an implicit multiplication operator between the the 3 and x, and this operator is often given different precedence! So in that case, 2÷3x ≠ 2÷3(x). That fits more in line with the right-associating intuition, probably, but that's not a universal rule!

Which brings me to the point: not every context has the same rules, so write your expressions clearly in the first place, instead of worrying about operator precedence! :-)

Ranulf

I will not join your gametabs.

Joined: Oct 15 2009

My bad, it has been WAY too long since I've even divided anything horizontally, and I'm used to working with variables anyways. Yes, I was thinking the division sign divided everything into two pieces because it's what I'm used to. This was just written in a confusing way. It's disappointing that I got this wrong, even though I took AP Calculus last year lol.

karathrow

Joined: Oct 26 2010

Ranulf said

Look at this
If you can't see the text here it is:
The equations are not identical. The 2(1+2) means you carry that parenthesis to the bottom with the two. This is really hard to explain, and sorry for the messy writing I was using a mouse :( but the right answer is 1. The only way the third equation would be right is if it started like this (6/2)(1+2) but it was 6/2(1+2).

Oh I didn't realize you were talking about the 4 equations below the calculators, I thought you were talking about the left and right calculators.

I still say it's 9 though.

zxclord123123

Location: US

Joined: Jun 25 2022

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