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If I saw it written on a chalkboard I wouldn't hesitate for a second, but when I see it written online I get doubts about the writer's intent. If you assume that someone asking for math advice knows how to express divisions properly then you're going to misread their intentions half the time.
On April 08 2011 06:46 Unhallowed wrote:
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 the hell is up with giving everything in math stupid names over in NA? I don't get it. So many named rules for everything, it just seems to promote memorization over understanding.
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On April 08 2011 06:48 JeeJee wrote:Show nested quote +On April 08 2011 06:47 JinDesu wrote: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/xand 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 =)
Sorry, lemme go nuke myself
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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... that's how its done in an actual classroom.
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On April 08 2011 06:40 ilbh wrote:
how can someone get to 2? you just read it from left to the right...
48÷(2(9+3))
Some programming languages (e.g. K) read from right-to-left, so you could get 2 
And I think some old C compilers do right-to-left evaluation too.
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After reading some of the posts in this thread, I almost want to say people have learned math and the order of operations differently. But I agree, I think that depending on how you do the problem (refer to my first statement) you could get either answer.
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People saying the question is ambiguous are right. Just using basic algebra rules you get 288. However in college multiplication without a symbol often assumes the multiplication in a bracket, resulting in this.
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On April 08 2011 06:46 Unhallowed wrote:
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.
The new polls are to test this. If you vote 2 based on university experience overriding the rule or not.
In my case I had already gone past the rule in High School and assumed the person was lazy.
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I voted 2...after thinking about it for a while i admit i was technically wrong. For me x(y+z) usually means simplification of (xy+xz)...therefore i interpreted 48÷2(9+3) as 48 / (2*9+3*2) = 48 / 24 = 2. I agree it's technically wrong. I guess. But like micronesia said: "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" :-/"
edit:
i still feel like x(y) should have higher priority then x/y...but meh
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Clever poll. But I'm pretty sure it's 288 and 1/(2x).
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On April 08 2011 06:43 staplestf2 wrote:
are people just voting 2 too troll us?
How about you stop for a sec and think why people are getting 2. I for answered 2 initially because for me when I see 1/2n I assume it means 1/(2n) as im sure most people who do lots of this crap in uni see it as. The question is just tricky cos NOBODY writes an equation like that
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On April 08 2011 06:48 koreasilver wrote:Show nested quote +On April 08 2011 06:44 JinDesu wrote: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... that's how its done in an actual classroom.
If that's the case, then you are being taught wrong. I said it before, it's not a notation issue. It's how people are being taught to interpret it.
48 ÷ 2 x 12 = 48 x (1/2) x 12 = (48/2) x 12
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This is why there's an equation tool on Microsoft Word, rather than having people resort to using one line to express equations.
1/2x can be interpreted as (1/2)x or 1/(2x).
This is also why we have three levels of parenthesis. ( { [ ( ) ] } )
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BEDMAS!!!
No uni courses necessary here!
On April 08 2011 06:48 hugman wrote:If I saw it written on a chalkboard I wouldn't hesitate for a second, but when I see it written online I get doubts about the writer's intent. If you assume that someone asking for math advice knows how to express divisions properly then you're going to misread their intentions half the time. Show nested quote +On April 08 2011 06:46 Unhallowed wrote:
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 the hell is up with giving everything in math stupid names over in NA? I don't get it. So many named rules for everything, it just seems to promote memorization over understanding.
lol, what are you talking about? Anagrams are convenient and there's nothing to understand here; you just have to know the order of operations. Brackets, Exponents, Division/Multiplication, Addition/Subtraction. Easy! No need to be an angry face.
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On April 08 2011 06:51 MangoTango wrote:
Clever poll. But I'm pretty sure it's 288 and 1/(2x).
care to elaborate why you're taking completely different approaches to essentially the same equation?
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On April 08 2011 06:47 Blisse wrote:
People get it wrong because math is not meant to be written in a single line.
^This. I voted 2.
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This is why you write math in fractions and not in one line.
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People aren't dumb because they can't do math, they just interpreted the question wrong. It's not a test of math skill it's a test of how people read directions and interpret the problem- seriously, the accusations of some people on this forum is pretty appalling. People are SO quick to pass judgment if it makes them look good in their own mind.
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I would never write something that potentially misleading to begin with. ... I'm agreeing with micronesia that the only reason you'd ever write the expression in the OP to begin with is to try to confuse someone. I really don't see a practical use for purposely trying to confuse someone with mathematics.
I didn't vote in either poll because honestly I can see someone writing the expression in the OP and meaning for it to equal either 2 or 288 (or for 1/2x to mean either x/2 or 1/(2x)).
Note for late readers: This was edited several hours after posting to remove the word "ambiguous" because it became abundantly clear that I was not being as precise with my language as I should have been.
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i actually picked 288 but i read 1/2x otherwise logic would have you write x/2. But i do see the sense of your question, 1/2x is a common abuse of the notation 1/(2x)
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EPT
