I see. Yeah 288 could be right, you would have to memorize the rules of math to know this. I assume only math and engineer majors would know this.
True. I dont know then. Made an A in Calc. in college yet I dont know how to solve a basic algebra problem lol. SMH.
It's real easy to understand why there is confusion. The ones who answer 2 are simply going by how they were taught to solve the problem when they were in school. If those individuals haven't had to solve the problem in years, of course they're going to go by how they were taught. The fact that there has been a change in the methodology is going to be lost on them unless they suddenly started attending middle or high school again. It's like the Beatles Rubber Soul. Ask a person who grew up in the 90s and beyond what the first song is and they'll tell you Drive My Car. Ask someone who grew up in the 70s and 80s and they'll tell you I've Just Seen A Face. That's because the U.S. version, which used to be the only one available in the 70s and 80s, began with IJSAF. I've listened to that version 100s of times growing up, and because I've basically listened to the Beatles so much, I don't tend to play them too regularly now, so I tend to forget that the UK versions are the ones available on CD and that it's extremely difficult to find the U.S. versions. If I had continued to listen to my LPs, I might never realize the different versions. Same with this problem. Calling people stupid just because that's the way they were taught is stupid in itself- and the fact that many answered 2 does not mean it's the end of the world or some oversimplified exaggeration like that. It just means that they are probably not in a job that requires them to make computations such as this- which would account for millions of people worldwide who are genuinely intelligent individuals. Let's compromise- some say 2, some say 288- halfway between that is 143, so let's use the beautiful art of compromise, call it even at 143, bring in Alan Funt and end this thing!
Found this via wikipedia as it pertains to PEMDAS: Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_operations As it is I also got 288. To get "2" I thought you had to add a second set of parenthesis or 48÷(2(9+3)) = ? atleast that is the way I remember being taught many years ago.
There has been no change in methodology... Mathematicians don't just randomly change the rules of arithmetic. It's not really open to interpretation. The people who don't know their order of operations are wrong, and the people who paid attention in middle school are right. In CF's case, a disturbing number of people are wrong.
Disturbing my a**- who gives a s**t, really? It's a waste of time and pointless argument- it's like in grammar, when you deal with items in a series- it's supposed to be that you leave off the last comma, as in "I'll buy peaches, pears and cherries." But if someone writes "Peaches, pears, and cherries.."- it's fine, too. We were taught to leave the parentheses there if that's how the problem was written- since that is not the case, fine. But the vitriol and "sky is falling" comments are just patently laughable.
dandorotik, You're right, it is easy to understand why there is confusion. While (as is) the problem is written correctly, it's rare to see it written that way so it confuses some of us. I was taught PEMDAS like most here but we were also taught the relationship between multiplication/division and addition/subtraction. As some have pointed out, if you understand that (48/2 = 48*0.5 and 2-5 = 2+(-5)) the order of those operations becomes unimportant and even if you didn't we were also taught that PEMDAS is actually PE(M or D)(A or S) anyway. I think where some people are getting frustrated is that unlike the ever changing accepted variations of the English language or whatever work processes anyone uses, math is definite. If you were taught a different way, you were taught wrong. It is understandably not your fault but this is not an either or thing.
Seriously? I learned this in jr. high, I think. lol. I'm guessing some people were either taught incorrectly, weren't taught it, or have forgotten it over the years.
But.... the halfway point between 2 and 288 is 145. You're just trying to get it closer to 2!!! (sorry for the triple-post, ppl ... )
I have been googling for an answer from a math professor or something like that. Couldn't find anything. As this has been making the rounds on all the fora, there must be something out there, no?
Hmm, has it already been brought up that the rules of PEMDAS state that multiplication and division must be done according to whichever one comes first in the problem? In this situation division comes before multiplication so you divide and then multiply. That's what I remember from 6th grade math.
