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Started By
Message
Posted on 2/27/15 at 1:10 pm to LSUBoo
He just said
quote:
Different people can interpret it different ways.
Posted on 2/27/15 at 1:18 pm to LSUBoo
I personally work it to 1, but I totally could work it the next day and get 9. If I got it wrong on an exam, is argue until I got credit .
Its like the sentence below. If you don't specify with the necessary punctuation, the meaning can be totally different. Same as in that math problem. Neither is wrong, because the equation leads to ambiguity.
"Most of the time, travellers worry about their luggage.”
“Most of the time travellers worry about their luggage”
Its like the sentence below. If you don't specify with the necessary punctuation, the meaning can be totally different. Same as in that math problem. Neither is wrong, because the equation leads to ambiguity.
"Most of the time, travellers worry about their luggage.”
“Most of the time travellers worry about their luggage”
Posted on 2/27/15 at 1:38 pm to jeff5891
quote:
He just said
quote:quote:
Different people can interpret it different ways.
Right, so I was asking him how he would interpret it, since he's the math whiz in the thread.
Posted on 2/27/15 at 1:44 pm to KG6
quote:
And the left to right argument is asinine.
Except, this is how it's done.
quote:
Different people can interpret it different ways.
It's a mathematical equation, not a Shakespearean stanza. The answer is either correct or its not. It's not up for interpretation.
Posted on 2/27/15 at 1:48 pm to LSUDAN1
quote:
My TI-85 says that all you who said 9 are fricking stupid. Equation entered as in the subject the answer is 1.
It's called a software bug. TI-85s are old.
Modern calculators will compute the correct answer. Hell, use Google's calculator.
Posted on 2/27/15 at 1:51 pm to LordSaintly
You better never take a higher level math course. In this case, it does matter since there is no context to explain what the equation applies to. The whole branch of theoretical mathematics is based on interpretation...
Posted on 2/27/15 at 1:53 pm to LordSaintly
quote:
Except, this is how it's don
Says who? I have never had a teacher tell me to do math left to right outside of middle school. You were taught to read it that way, doesn't mean it's a factual rule.
If they would have put more info in the problem with parenthesis, then it would not be up for interpretation. That's what parenthesis are for. This however doesn't spell it out so clearly. The only rule those who swear up and down that its only 9 have to go on is the left to right rule. Which is not a rule.
Posted on 2/27/15 at 2:09 pm to KG6
People are essentially inserting parentheses to get to the answer of 1. Since the parentheses are not there, you cannot put 2(2+1) in the denominator.
If you take it how it is written, it reads 6 divided by 2 multiplied by the sum of 2+1 or 6 multiplied by 1/2 multiplied by the sum of 2+1:
6*(1/2)*(2+1)
If you take it how it is written, it reads 6 divided by 2 multiplied by the sum of 2+1 or 6 multiplied by 1/2 multiplied by the sum of 2+1:
6*(1/2)*(2+1)
Posted on 2/27/15 at 2:19 pm to OneMoreTime
You read it that way because you are reading it left to right. Rules that govern reading a sentence do not govern math equations. You are right that people who answer 1 choose to do the order of operations as if the parenthesis were put that way. But those answering 9 are doing the same thing. You can't assume people will do operations left to right, because that's not a rule.
As someone else said, its up for interpretation until its written correctly.
As someone else said, its up for interpretation until its written correctly.
Posted on 2/27/15 at 2:19 pm to Clames
quote:I think he has a PhD in something like Computer Science so he probably did take those higher level math courses.
You better never take a higher level math course. In this case, it does matter since there is no context to explain what the equation applies to. The whole branch of theoretical mathematics is based on interpretation...
Posted on 2/27/15 at 2:32 pm to KG6
quote:OK we can all acknowledge using your basic keyboard symbols makes complex equations harder to communicate.
You read it that way because you are reading it left to right. Rules that govern reading a sentence do not govern math equations. You are right that people who answer 1 choose to do the order of operations as if the parenthesis were put that way. But those answering 9 are doing the same thing. You can't assume people will do operations left to right, because that's not a rule.
As someone else said, its up for interpretation until its written correctly.
That being said, we know the limitations of this style, and we have to add a parentheses to make distinctions. Just like when I type an equation into R, or any other software that has the same language limitations, (I.e., unlike Maple and Mathematica which allow for a more formal representation) if I don't put the parentheses, it doesn't assume they are there.
So only one answer (1) requires an assumption of a symbol that is not clearly specified. I get the reasoning, but it requires an assumption that the other one does not so arguing that they both require one to make a similar assumption is simply not true.
This post was edited on 2/27/15 at 2:35 pm
Posted on 2/27/15 at 2:33 pm to KG6
quote:No, they aren't. Simplify it down and make it all multiplication. 6*(1/2)*(2+1). Any way you want to read that is gonna give you 9.
But those answering 9 are doing the same thing.
Nothing in the equation is telling you that (2+1) is in the denominator.
Posted on 2/27/15 at 2:35 pm to KG6
quote:
You are right that people who answer 1 choose to do the order of operations as if the parenthesis were put that way
Yes, they chose to do it that way, which is wrong. Those answering 9 are doing the problem as its stated... You're not convincing anyone that you took level 3000-4000 math courses
Posted on 2/27/15 at 2:43 pm to Indigold
quote:Yeah.
Yes, they chose to do it that way, which is wrong. Those answering 9 are doing the problem as its stated... You're not convincing anyone that you took level 3000-4000 math courses
It would be like arguing that 1+22 could be 5 because 22 could be 2 squared. You solve what is presented and if they forgot to put the symbol needed to accurately communicate the problem given the software, then that is their mistake.
Posted on 2/27/15 at 2:57 pm to buckeye_vol
quote:
and if they forgot to put the symbol needed to accurately communicate the problem given the software
And that's the whole point of this argument. The keyboard, the ability to write equations on a forum, and the way you write the problem. / is equal to ÷. But sometimes, when written in a straight line like this case, people interpret / as if the problem was written like this:
x=____6_____
2(2+1)
as if everything after the / is under what comes before it.
This post was edited on 2/27/15 at 2:59 pm
Posted on 2/27/15 at 2:59 pm to LordSaintly
quote:wow
its a math problem. The answer is either correct or its not. It's not up for interpretation
This post was edited on 2/27/15 at 3:02 pm
Posted on 2/27/15 at 3:00 pm to OneMoreTime
A(B+C)shows the multiplying (AB+AC). If you do that operation first, which is completely acceptable since multiplication takes place at the same time as division in order of operations, then the parenthesis are now in the denominator. There is NOTHING that states you must do the division in the equation before distributing that A across the argument in the parenthesis except left to right. That's how people come up with 1. You state that you need to show the parenthesis around the entire denominator to do that operation first. I'm saying that you have to put the parenthesis around (6/2)to do that operation first. You are only doing that operation first because you are reading left to right. That is not enough to define the order of operations.
This post was edited on 2/27/15 at 3:10 pm
Posted on 2/27/15 at 3:11 pm to UserName69
PEMDAS (Order Of Operations)
Parentheses
Exponent
Multiply
Divide
Addition
Subtraction
Parentheses
Exponent
Multiply
Divide
Addition
Subtraction
This post was edited on 2/27/15 at 3:22 pm
Posted on 2/27/15 at 3:14 pm to Indigold
quote:Yeah i mean I get the issue, and why people would interpret it that way. I'm just saying that without any context, one should interpret it as written and not add any additional assumptions.
And that's the whole point of this argument. The keyboard, the ability to write equations on a forum, and the way you write the problem. / is equal to ÷. But sometimes, when written in a straight line like this case, people interpret / as if the problem was written like this:
x=____6_____
2(2+1)
as if everything after the / is under what comes before it.
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