• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 12:37
CEST 18:37
KST 01:37
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
Serral wins Maestros of the Game 236ByuL, and the Limitations of Standard Play3Team Liquid Map Contest #22: Results and Winners7Code S Season 2 (2026): RO4 and Finals Preview12TL.net Map Contest #22 - Voting & Ladder Map Selection7
Community News
BSL Season 22 Full Overview & Conclusion5BSL Season 22 Full Overview & Conclusion5Weekly Cups (June 29-July 5): Solar Doubles0MC vs IdrA, Boxer vs Nal_rA to be Legacy Matches @ BlizzCon445.0.16 Hotfix (June 30) - Balance + Bug Fixes40
StarCraft 2
General
Most successful SC2 players of Q2 2026 Serral wins Maestros of the Game 2 MC vs IdrA, Boxer vs Nal_rA to be Legacy Matches @ BlizzCon Is the larve respawn broken? 5.0.16 patch for SC2 goes live (8 worker start)
Tourneys
RSL Revival: Season 6 - Qualifiers and Main Event GSL CK #5 Race War HomeStory Cup 29 Vespene Cup #1 — $300+ USD, July 10 Sea Duckling Open (Global, Bronze-Diamond)
Strategy
[G] Having the right mentality to improve
Custom Maps
New Map Maker - Looking for Advice - Love or Hate Work In Progress Melee Maps [D]RTS in all its shapes and glory <3
External Content
Mutation # 533 Die Together The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 532 Nuclear Family Mutation # 531 Experimental Artillery
Brood War
General
BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ BW General Discussion BSL Season 22 Full Overview & Conclusion ASL 22 Proposed Map Pool Starcraft vs Retro Category on Twitch
Tourneys
IPSL Spring 2026 Top 4! [ASL22] Wildcard Qualifier [Megathread] Daily Proleagues Escore Tournament StarCraft Season 2
Strategy
Fighting Spirit mining rates Simple Questions, Simple Answers Creating a full chart of Zerg builds Relatively freeroll strategies
Other Games
General Games
General RTS Discussion Thread Summer Games Done Quick 2026! Nintendo Switch Thread Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Dawn of War IV
Dota 2
Looking for a Dota Mentor Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug
TL Mafia
NeO.D_StephenKing vs This Guy From 1 Million Dance TL Mafia Community Thread TL Mafia Power Rank Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread UK Politics Mega-thread YouTube Thread Canadian Politics Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
The IdrA Fan Club The HerO Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
Anime Discussion Thread Movie Discussion! Series you have seen recently... [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books [TV/BOOK] *SPOILERS* Game of Thrones Discussion
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread McBoner: A hockey love story Tennis[sport] Formula 1 Discussion TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
FPS when play League Of Legend on laptop How to clean a TTe Thermaltake keyboard? Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Major Shifts in the Gaming I…
TrAiDoS
An Exploration of th…
waywardstrategy
Gauntlet SC2: A Retrospectiv…
Ctone23
ramps on octagon
StaticNine
Funny Nicknames
LUCKY_NOOB
Evil Gacha Games and the…
ffswowsucks
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 11635 users

A Simple Math Problem? - Page 48

Forum Index > General Forum
Post a Reply
Prev 1 46 47 48 49 50 98 Next
DarkPlasmaBall
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
United States46206 Posts
April 08 2011 03:12 GMT
#941
On April 08 2011 12:06 space_yes wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 08 2011 12:05 DarkPlasmaBall wrote:
On April 08 2011 05:35 Retgery wrote:
Oh dear...who picked 288?
The point of Bedmas is to get rid of brackets first.


Oh dear:

1. The answer is 288 >.>

2. Bedmas? Brackets? Those aren't brackets lol

( ) are parentheses
[ ] are brackets
{ } are braces

It's called PEMDAS
Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication/ Division, Addition/ Subtraction
(Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally)

I'm getting a masters degree in math education in a month... I can't wait to start teaching kids!


Don't tell me you picked 1/(2x)?


Haha actually I didn't vote in that poll, because I know that my kids (from student teaching and tutoring for several years) mess up on that all the time from the context. I have them either use vertical fractions (with the x clearly outside of the fraction or in the appropriate numerator or denominator part) or I just have them change the fraction to a decimal (so .5), so it's a non-issue and it's never ambiguous.

Possibly a cop-out for this poll, but as far as teaching is concerned, it's incredibly helpful
"There is nothing more satisfying than looking at a crowd of people and helping them get what I love." ~Day[9] Daily #100
Fdragon
Profile Joined May 2010
United States96 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-04-08 03:15:55
April 08 2011 03:14 GMT
#942
48...........48
---------- = -------- = 2
2(9+3).......24

Also PEMDAS....
ZvT makes me Sad Face =(
Count9
Profile Blog Joined May 2009
China10928 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-04-08 03:15:47
April 08 2011 03:15 GMT
#943
I was always taught to do multiplication and division from left to right but my friend was taught to do multiplication before division :/

I voted 288, google agrees with me btw =)
SharkSpider
Profile Joined May 2010
Canada606 Posts
April 08 2011 03:15 GMT
#944
The correct answer is that real mathematicians don't use the division sign because it's misleading. The actual, official rules behind it are obscure to the extent where someone taking a Math degree doesn't know what they are. For that matter, neither is /. When mathematicians talk online, though, / typically means "big line" unless it's got brackets on it.

So correct or not, the "msn" variety of math syntax recognizes 1/2x as (1/(2x)), at least where I'm from. This is because we always carry through fractions and never write something like (1/2)*x. It would always be x/2 or even 1x/2 if 1 was another number.

For the first one, you do the brackets first, yes, but then you're left with a similar situation. If I used the / sign while asking my prof a question on a message board, then 48/2(9+3) is 2.


Furthermore, the rule of PEMDAS is that multiplication comes before division. Hence, we perform our task as follows:

48÷2(9+3) = 48÷2(12) = 48÷2*12 = 48÷24 = 2

The reason this must be specified is that 48÷2*12 can either be read left to right (a mistake) or by using multiplication first (the correct response).

So yeah, I'm a mathematician and I think it's 2.
Fdragon
Profile Joined May 2010
United States96 Posts
April 08 2011 03:16 GMT
#945
On April 08 2011 12:15 Count9 wrote:
I was always taught to do multiplication and division from left to right but my friend was taught to do multiplication before division :/

I voted 288, google agrees with me btw =)



And this is why we cant trust calculators.
ZvT makes me Sad Face =(
space_yes
Profile Joined April 2010
United States548 Posts
April 08 2011 03:16 GMT
#946
On April 08 2011 12:12 DarkPlasmaBall wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 08 2011 12:06 space_yes wrote:
On April 08 2011 12:05 DarkPlasmaBall wrote:
On April 08 2011 05:35 Retgery wrote:
Oh dear...who picked 288?
The point of Bedmas is to get rid of brackets first.


Oh dear:

1. The answer is 288 >.>

2. Bedmas? Brackets? Those aren't brackets lol

( ) are parentheses
[ ] are brackets
{ } are braces

It's called PEMDAS
Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication/ Division, Addition/ Subtraction
(Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally)

I'm getting a masters degree in math education in a month... I can't wait to start teaching kids!


Don't tell me you picked 1/(2x)?


Haha actually I didn't vote in that poll, because I know that my kids (from student teaching and tutoring for several years) mess up on that all the time from the context. I have them either use vertical fractions (with the x clearly outside of the fraction or in the appropriate numerator or denominator part) or I just have them change the fraction to a decimal (so .5), so it's a non-issue and it's never ambiguous.

Possibly a cop-out for this poll, but as far as teaching is concerned, it's incredibly helpful


Yeah it's only tricky b/c the fraction is all on one line. But then if the OP used an image to show the fraction vertically the poll wouldn't be very fun ^^
Count9
Profile Blog Joined May 2009
China10928 Posts
April 08 2011 03:17 GMT
#947
On April 08 2011 12:15 SharkSpider wrote:
The correct answer is that real mathematicians don't use the division sign because it's misleading. The actual, official rules behind it are obscure to the extent where someone taking a Math degree doesn't know what they are. For that matter, neither is /. When mathematicians talk online, though, / typically means "big line" unless it's got brackets on it.

So correct or not, the "msn" variety of math syntax recognizes 1/2x as (1/(2x)), at least where I'm from. This is because we always carry through fractions and never write something like (1/2)*x. It would always be x/2 or even 1x/2 if 1 was another number.

For the first one, you do the brackets first, yes, but then you're left with a similar situation. If I used the / sign while asking my prof a question on a message board, then 48/2(9+3) is 2.


Furthermore, the rule of PEMDAS is that multiplication comes before division. Hence, we perform our task as follows:

48÷2(9+3) = 48÷2(12) = 48÷2*12 = 48÷24 = 2

The reason this must be specified is that 48÷2*12 can either be read left to right (a mistake) or by using multiplication first (the correct response).

So yeah, I'm a mathematician and I think it's 2.

I was taught the MD in PEMDAS was Multiplication and Division from left to right, just like AS is Addition and Subtraction from left to right. No one would do 1-1+2=-2.
JinDesu
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
United States3990 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-04-08 03:18:40
April 08 2011 03:17 GMT
#948
I really dislike the comments here "Oh, my calculator says so." "Oh, google says so"

This is math. You should be able to work it out, step by step, and understand where the differences in opinions (lulz...) lie.

Read the formula out loud. Write it out the way you interpret it as. Write it out the way other people have described it as. It's not that hard.

On April 08 2011 12:16 space_yes wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 08 2011 12:12 DarkPlasmaBall wrote:
On April 08 2011 12:06 space_yes wrote:
On April 08 2011 12:05 DarkPlasmaBall wrote:
On April 08 2011 05:35 Retgery wrote:
Oh dear...who picked 288?
The point of Bedmas is to get rid of brackets first.


Oh dear:

1. The answer is 288 >.>

2. Bedmas? Brackets? Those aren't brackets lol

( ) are parentheses
[ ] are brackets
{ } are braces

It's called PEMDAS
Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication/ Division, Addition/ Subtraction
(Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally)

I'm getting a masters degree in math education in a month... I can't wait to start teaching kids!


Don't tell me you picked 1/(2x)?


Haha actually I didn't vote in that poll, because I know that my kids (from student teaching and tutoring for several years) mess up on that all the time from the context. I have them either use vertical fractions (with the x clearly outside of the fraction or in the appropriate numerator or denominator part) or I just have them change the fraction to a decimal (so .5), so it's a non-issue and it's never ambiguous.

Possibly a cop-out for this poll, but as far as teaching is concerned, it's incredibly helpful


Yeah it's only tricky b/c the fraction is all on one line. But then if the OP used an image to show the fraction vertically the poll wouldn't be very fun ^^


The OP used the division symbol. Your interpretation of the division symbol is what threw you off. Don't blame the division symbol.
Yargh
Deleted User 3420
Profile Blog Joined May 2003
24492 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-04-08 03:19:01
April 08 2011 03:18 GMT
#949
On April 08 2011 05:35 cursor wrote:
pedmas


i thought it was pemdas, lol
i voted 2

eh ur prolly just trolling anyways

holy shit this has 48 pages
Kentor *
Profile Blog Joined December 2007
United States5784 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-04-08 03:20:52
April 08 2011 03:18 GMT
#950
On April 08 2011 11:57 -{Cake}- wrote:
math.berkeley.edu/~wu/order5.pdf

^interesting

just sayin

nice. thanks for sharing. standardized tests are terrible lol

wow he has a lot of other stuff http://math.berkeley.edu/~wu/
DarkPlasmaBall
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
United States46206 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-04-08 03:20:26
April 08 2011 03:19 GMT
#951
On April 08 2011 12:15 SharkSpider wrote:

Furthermore, the rule of PEMDAS is that multiplication comes before division. Hence, we perform our task as follows:

48÷2(9+3) = 48÷2(12) = 48÷2*12 = 48÷24 = 2

The reason this must be specified is that 48÷2*12 can either be read left to right (a mistake) or by using multiplication first (the correct response).

So yeah, I'm a mathematician and I think it's 2.


You cannot be a mathematician and make a mistake as blatantly obvious as stating that PEMDAS claims that multiplication comes before division.

They're done simultaneously, from left to right, which is exactly why you do 48÷2 before multiplying that value (24) by 12 (the sum from the parentheses).

I have a degree in math too, but you don't need one to remember that the MD go together and the AS go together. That was taught in elementary school.
"There is nothing more satisfying than looking at a crowd of people and helping them get what I love." ~Day[9] Daily #100
naptiem
Profile Joined July 2009
United States21 Posts
April 08 2011 03:20 GMT
#952
Off topic question for mathematicians who have taken some algebra or topology, how important has rigorously memorizing definitions been for you in understanding what you're working with?
Randomaccount#77123
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
United States5003 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-04-08 03:24:24
April 08 2011 03:20 GMT
#953
--- Nuked ---
JinDesu
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
United States3990 Posts
April 08 2011 03:20 GMT
#954
On April 08 2011 12:19 DarkPlasmaBall wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 08 2011 12:15 SharkSpider wrote:
Furthermore, the rule of PEMDAS is that multiplication comes before division. Hence, we perform our task as follows:

48÷2(9+3) = 48÷2(12) = 48÷2*12 = 48÷24 = 2

The reason this must be specified is that 48÷2*12 can either be read left to right (a mistake) or by using multiplication first (the correct response).

So yeah, I'm a mathematician and I think it's 2.


You cannot be a mathematician and make a mistake as blatantly obvious as stating that PEMDAS claims that multiplication comes before division.

They're done simultaneously, from left to right, which is exactly why you do 48÷2 before multiplying that value (24) by 12 (the sum from the parentheses).

I have a degree in math too, but you don't need one to remember that the MD go together and the AS go together. That was taught in elementary school.


Just a minor niggle. Not "simultaneously". They are considered of the same tier/level/insertsynonymhere.
Yargh
LloydRays
Profile Joined October 2010
United States306 Posts
April 08 2011 03:20 GMT
#955
The original problem is a kind of "hahaha i got you! trololol" idiotic game that is designed to trap unsuspecting people by phrasing with unreasonably convoluted rules. This is why most people don't learn in school because we don't see the point when there will never be a situation where someone hands you such a problem that is written so poorly considering the division sign isn't used after fractions are introduced.

I guess it makes some unsocial people feel better about how they have wasted their time and make them think that they waste it better than other people who would rather waste time say, playing starcraft, or going for a walk etc.
MiraKul
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
Malaysia498 Posts
April 08 2011 03:21 GMT
#956
I got it right! 288.
ovrpwrd
-{Cake}-
Profile Joined October 2010
United States217 Posts
April 08 2011 03:21 GMT
#957
On April 08 2011 12:18 Kentor wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 08 2011 11:57 -{Cake}- wrote:
math.berkeley.edu/~wu/order5.pdf

^interesting

just sayin

nice. thanks for sharing. standardized tests are terrible lol

wow he has a lot of other stuff http://math.berkeley.edu/~wu/


oh wow, didn't notice that, google took me right to the pdf lol
Amui
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
Canada10567 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-04-08 03:22:15
April 08 2011 03:22 GMT
#958
Got it right....Although taking calculus and linear algebra in university probably has something to do with it....

Also silly americans, BEDMAS is soooo much easier than PEMDAS to remember.
Porouscloud - NA LoL
DarkPlasmaBall
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
United States46206 Posts
April 08 2011 03:22 GMT
#959
On April 08 2011 12:16 space_yes wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 08 2011 12:12 DarkPlasmaBall wrote:
On April 08 2011 12:06 space_yes wrote:
On April 08 2011 12:05 DarkPlasmaBall wrote:
On April 08 2011 05:35 Retgery wrote:
Oh dear...who picked 288?
The point of Bedmas is to get rid of brackets first.


Oh dear:

1. The answer is 288 >.>

2. Bedmas? Brackets? Those aren't brackets lol

( ) are parentheses
[ ] are brackets
{ } are braces

It's called PEMDAS
Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication/ Division, Addition/ Subtraction
(Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally)

I'm getting a masters degree in math education in a month... I can't wait to start teaching kids!


Don't tell me you picked 1/(2x)?


Haha actually I didn't vote in that poll, because I know that my kids (from student teaching and tutoring for several years) mess up on that all the time from the context. I have them either use vertical fractions (with the x clearly outside of the fraction or in the appropriate numerator or denominator part) or I just have them change the fraction to a decimal (so .5), so it's a non-issue and it's never ambiguous.

Possibly a cop-out for this poll, but as far as teaching is concerned, it's incredibly helpful


Yeah it's only tricky b/c the fraction is all on one line. But then if the OP used an image to show the fraction vertically the poll wouldn't be very fun ^^


I completely agree ^^
"There is nothing more satisfying than looking at a crowd of people and helping them get what I love." ~Day[9] Daily #100
DarkPlasmaBall
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
United States46206 Posts
April 08 2011 03:23 GMT
#960
On April 08 2011 12:20 JinDesu wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 08 2011 12:19 DarkPlasmaBall wrote:
On April 08 2011 12:15 SharkSpider wrote:
Furthermore, the rule of PEMDAS is that multiplication comes before division. Hence, we perform our task as follows:

48÷2(9+3) = 48÷2(12) = 48÷2*12 = 48÷24 = 2

The reason this must be specified is that 48÷2*12 can either be read left to right (a mistake) or by using multiplication first (the correct response).

So yeah, I'm a mathematician and I think it's 2.


You cannot be a mathematician and make a mistake as blatantly obvious as stating that PEMDAS claims that multiplication comes before division.

They're done simultaneously, from left to right, which is exactly why you do 48÷2 before multiplying that value (24) by 12 (the sum from the parentheses).

I have a degree in math too, but you don't need one to remember that the MD go together and the AS go together. That was taught in elementary school.


Just a minor niggle. Not "simultaneously". They are considered of the same tier/level/insertsynonymhere.


Good call. Thanks for the clarification Same tier/ level is a much better way of putting it.
"There is nothing more satisfying than looking at a crowd of people and helping them get what I love." ~Day[9] Daily #100
Prev 1 46 47 48 49 50 98 Next
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Patches Events
16:00
5400 MMR Capped Patch Clash
Liquipedia
IPSL
16:00
Ro4 M1
Dragon vs Ret
LiquipediaDiscussion
PSISTORM Gaming Misc
15:55
FSL TeamLeague s11: POG vs ASH
Freeedom18
Liquipedia
SC Evo League
12:00
SEL S3 Ladder Invitational
ByuN vs Classic
Cure vs Solar
IntoTheiNu 971
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
elazer 178
BRAT_OK 67
StarCraft: Brood War
Britney 28880
Calm 4712
Shuttle 1827
Mini 1243
Horang2 731
EffOrt 652
Jaedong 561
Hyuk 494
BeSt 491
Soma 342
[ Show more ]
Stork 271
Larva 254
ggaemo 204
Soulkey 195
Snow 172
sSak 47
sorry 47
Sexy 38
soO 36
Rock 24
IntoTheRainbow 14
Yoon 10
Dota 2
Dendi1939
XaKoH 531
420jenkins356
Counter-Strike
fl0m1066
Other Games
gofns14714
FrodaN3966
singsing2787
B2W.Neo990
DeMusliM541
Hui .219
mouzStarbuck173
UpATreeSC46
Trikslyr44
trigger33
amsayoshi23
MindelVK8
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick34719
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
[ Show 12 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• Airneanach52
• Pr0nogo 3
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Upcoming Events
RSL Revival
16h 23m
Solar vs Rogue
Maru vs NightMare
Sparkling Tuna Cup
17h 23m
IPSL
23h 23m
Bonyth vs Hawk
GSL
1d 18h
Replay Cast
2 days
WardiTV Weekly
2 days
The PondCast
3 days
Replay Cast
4 days
CrankTV Team League
4 days
Replay Cast
5 days
[ Show More ]
CrankTV Team League
5 days
Replay Cast
6 days
RSL Revival
6 days
Clem vs Lambo
Scarlett vs Cure
CranKy Ducklings
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Escore Tournament S3: W2
HSC XXIX
Eternal Conflict S2 E1

Ongoing

IPSL Spring 2026
Acropolis #4
YSL S3
CSL 2026 Summer (S21)
ASL Season 22: Wild Card Qualifier
RSL Revival: Season 6
CranK Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League
SCTL 2026 Spring
XSE Pro League 2026
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
PGL Astana 2026
BLAST Rivals Spring 2026

Upcoming

CSLAN 4
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
HSC XXX
SC4ALL II: StarCraft II
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
Light Tournament 2026
Eternal Conflict S2 Finale
Eternal Conflict S2 E3
Eternal Conflict S2 E2
Logitech G Connect 2026
StarSeries Fall 2026
FISSURE Playground #5
BLAST Open Fall 2026
Esports World Cup 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual
Stake Ranked Episode 3
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.