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A Simple Math Problem? - Page 14

Forum Index > General Forum
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thesideshow
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
930 Posts
April 07 2011 21:44 GMT
#261
masterofchaos's second poll is pretty good. I think people more used to dealing with algebra view it as 2.
OGS:levelchange
Chux
Profile Joined June 2009
Peru255 Posts
April 07 2011 21:44 GMT
#262
On April 08 2011 06:39 munchmunch wrote:
How did this thread get reopened again? I thought micronesia's post summed it up perfectly.

Also, the "What is your education and what is you result?" poll really should have options for, "I didn't vote because I thought it was ambiguous".


Pretty Much this. I think we need a context, like for example: a math teacher you know writes that on the board..im pretty sure you will know if its 288 or 2.
MSL 2052-2053, here we go!
JinDesu
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
United States3990 Posts
April 07 2011 21:44 GMT
#263
On April 08 2011 06:40 MasterOfChaos wrote:

+ Show Spoiler +
This one is interesting. Wolfram alpha interprets it as 1/(2*x), binding the omitted multiplication sign stronger to the variable x. But if you insist on left-to-right evaluation you get (1/2)*x
.


Then Wolfram looks at how the / sign works is wrong.

One divided by two times x.

That's all it is.
Yargh
Kashll
Profile Blog Joined May 2008
United States1117 Posts
April 07 2011 21:45 GMT
#264
who cares?

If you're in a context where it's ambiguous then just write it better.
"After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music." - Aldous Huxley
bRuTaL!!
Profile Joined August 2010
Finland588 Posts
April 07 2011 21:45 GMT
#265
Why do people get it "wrong"? Because there is no *. a/bc and a/b*c are different things. No?
Tasteless: "What was it Hans Solo was frozen in? Kryptonite?" Artosis: "Lol, no. Thats the stuff that hurts Batman."
MasterOfChaos
Profile Blog Joined April 2007
Germany2896 Posts
April 07 2011 21:45 GMT
#266
On April 08 2011 06:43 StarStruck wrote:
You just had to re-open this thread. Didn't you?

I think for now on, all contests that require you to do a skill testing question in order to win should use this question (not like they don't anyway!). Ha.

I didn't (and can't) open a thread.

I thought that poll is interesting because I don't think it's a question of skill but a question of convention. And the conventions you're exposed to at school can differ from those you're exposed to at university.
LiquipediaOne eye to kill. Two eyes to live.
Lightningbullet
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States507 Posts
April 07 2011 21:45 GMT
#267
On April 08 2011 05:44 RodrigoX wrote:
PEMDAS. Its not their fault...

Parentheses exponents multiplication division addition subtraction.

48 divided by 2(9+3)
48 divided by 2(12)
48 divided by 24
2

It kinda is. They didn't go from left to right. And its more like PE(MD)(AD)<-- in the order they occur
BoxeR is AWESOME!!!!//Proud 2nd Member of the BW>SC2 club.
koreasilver
Profile Blog Joined June 2008
9109 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-04-07 21:47:11
April 07 2011 21:46 GMT
#268
On April 08 2011 06:44 thesideshow wrote:
masterofchaos's second poll is pretty good. I think people more used to dealing with algebra view it as 2.

Pretty much. It might not be the "way it is supposed to be" but in the classroom this is just the way it has been for the past 9 years for me.
meegrean
Profile Joined May 2008
Thailand7699 Posts
April 07 2011 21:46 GMT
#269
On April 08 2011 06:43 staplestf2 wrote:
are people just voting 2 too troll us?

Yep, I love voting for the underdog.
Brood War loyalist
Unhallowed
Profile Joined January 2011
Canada171 Posts
April 07 2011 21:46 GMT
#270
This is so far from university math... it is just the application of that BEDMAS rule.
I believe this was taught to me in elementary school.
What is evil but good tortured by it's own hunger and thirst?
YokaY
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States108 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-04-07 21:47:29
April 07 2011 21:46 GMT
#271
48÷2(9+3)=?

I'd think by using "÷" symbol for division, people would avoid the mistake of putting the (9+3) in the denominator. So people shouldn't be seeing 1/(2*x), since by using ÷ they probably mean it to be read in a line.
Blisse
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
Canada3710 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-04-07 21:48:11
April 07 2011 21:47 GMT
#272
People get it wrong because math is not meant to be written in a single line.
There is no one like you in the universe.
lightrise
Profile Joined March 2008
United States1355 Posts
April 07 2011 21:47 GMT
#273
For the 1/2x problem for all math problems its implied that the x is combined with the 2 in the denomenator. If you were looking for 1 /2 and then * x it would be written as x/2 not with a 1 first.
Awesome german interviewer: "What was your idea going into games against Idra" "I WANTED TO USE A CHEESE STRATEGY BECAUSE IDRA IS KNOWN TO TILT AFTER LOSING TO SOMETHING GAY" Demuslim
Antiochus
Profile Joined March 2010
Canada548 Posts
April 07 2011 21:47 GMT
#274
So i just woke up and voted in the poll and as I was watching the page load I reread the question and face palmed so hard.
All play and no work makes Jack unemployed.
JinDesu
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
United States3990 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-04-07 21:49:04
April 07 2011 21:47 GMT
#275
self-nuked!
Yargh
blazingblue16
Profile Joined February 2011
Canada41 Posts
April 07 2011 21:47 GMT
#276
holy **** guys. (9+3)48÷2
There, now no one will ever get it wrong.
I can't believe there is 12 pages of arguing on how it should be in variations of 48÷(2(9+3)), 48÷2(9+3) or etc.

p.s. That is the clearest way of writing that statement. 12x48÷2 = 288 or if you read it as (9+3)48/2 (all over 2)

JeeJee
Profile Blog Joined July 2003
Canada5652 Posts
April 07 2011 21:47 GMT
#277
On April 08 2011 06:44 JinDesu wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 08 2011 06:40 MasterOfChaos wrote:

+ Show Spoiler +
This one is interesting. Wolfram alpha interprets it as 1/(2*x), binding the omitted multiplication sign stronger to the variable x. But if you insist on left-to-right evaluation you get (1/2)*x
.


Then Wolfram looks at how the / sign works is wrong.

One divided by two times x.

That's all it is.


or walpha works according to real world conventions /rolleyes
(\o/)  If you want it, you find a way. Otherwise you find excuses. No exceptions.
 /_\   aka Shinbi (requesting a name change since 27/05/09 ☺)
ahswtini
Profile Blog Joined June 2008
Northern Ireland22212 Posts
April 07 2011 21:48 GMT
#278
Or, they're used to maths being written "freehand" as opposed to line by line as you'd find on a computer
"As I've said, balance isn't about strategies or counters, it's about probability and statistics." - paralleluniverse
Marradron
Profile Blog Joined January 2009
Netherlands1586 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-04-07 21:49:17
April 07 2011 21:48 GMT
#279
On April 08 2011 06:40 MasterOfChaos wrote:

This one is interesting. Wolfram alpha interprets it as 1/(2*x), binding the omitted multiplication sign stronger to the variable x. But if you insist on left-to-right evaluation you get (1/2)*x.


wolfram actually vieuws it as 1/2x as (1/2)x

http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=48/2(9+3)

edit: I now see what you mean i tried 1/2x and it does indeed make it 1/(2x). It however makes 1/2(2+9) into (1/2)*(2+9) doesnt seem consistent
JeeJee
Profile Blog Joined July 2003
Canada5652 Posts
April 07 2011 21:48 GMT
#280
On April 08 2011 06:47 JinDesu wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 08 2011 06:43 JeeJee wrote:
On April 08 2011 06:41 Golgotha wrote:
On April 08 2011 06:16 micronesia wrote:
48÷2(9+3)

This is a mathematical expression that severs no purpose other than to test if you truly understand how order of operations work. Technically the answer is 288, but practically if you see this written 'in the field' "48/2(9+3)" odds are pretty good that they meant "48 / [2(9+3)]."

This thread/poll serves little purpose other than to punish people who either A) don't remember their math or B) allow their experience with math rather than Pemdas lesson in primary/secondary school to dictate how they do math. It also is a place for people to go "haha look at that thread" :-/

I hate ambiguous mathematical expressions (whether it be because of technical ambiguity or laziness on the part of the person who wrote it) and hate this thread.

I'm closing this dumb poll thread. If anyone still does not understand it you can pm me. If anyone uses this as an excuse to troll me I'll just revoke your pm privileges lol

Chill Edit: Reopened. I don't see why you would close it, it's an interesting trick


micronesia....you cant just go and randomly create brackets when that completely changes the given problem. There is nothing ambiguous about it. I am worried about our public education system now ^^



he's right

the question in OP is technically 288, but technicalities are irrelevant
what's 1/2x to you?
if you say 288, you should also say 1/2x = 2/x
and technically, yes, it's 2/x
but really, it's 1/(2x) in real world

that said, i'm sad that 2 is such a popular answer. people should be aware of tricks and make no assumptions and vote 288 ;(

edit: lol sniped by micronesia


(1/2)*5 does not equal 2/5. You mean x/2.


yeah i know i edited that a while back. typo =)
(\o/)  If you want it, you find a way. Otherwise you find excuses. No exceptions.
 /_\   aka Shinbi (requesting a name change since 27/05/09 ☺)
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