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re: Bizarre Math Question and Answer breaks the internet - Sorry if already posted
Posted on 4/15/15 at 7:24 pm to KG6
Posted on 4/15/15 at 7:24 pm to KG6
quote:
People get bent out of shape about this with the whole left to right thing. It's easily interpreted as both answers, but you were taught to read math problems like sentences (left to right) in third grade, so screw what a math professor says.
Renowned math professors argued against switching in the Monty Hall paradox as well, and they were wrong then too.
I don't understand how someone can possibly interpret this problem as ambiguous.
48/2(9+3) = 288
The author of the problem clearly knows how to write parentheses, and if he wanted the problem to be interpreted as 48/(2(9+3)), he would have done so. Obviously that was not his intention.
I love how people think they understand math well, think the solution is 2, and then argue it is ambiguous instead of acknowledging they were wrong.
3
Posted on 4/15/15 at 7:32 pm to slackster
quote:
I love how people think they understand math well, think the solution is 2, and then argue it is ambiguous instead of acknowledging they were wrong.
I could see how someone could interpret it that way. Does that make me wrong stating there are two solutions? Not all math problems have one solution. Some have no solution. Some have infinite solutions.
Posted on 4/15/15 at 8:09 pm to slackster
I just take my calculator's word for it 
Posted on 4/16/15 at 3:17 am to slackster
quote:
I don't understand how someone can possibly interpret this problem as ambiguous.
48/2(9+3) = 288
The issue is implied multiplication. If it was 48/2x, no one would say this should be solved (48/2)*X even though if we wrote it out by operations it would read 48/2*X. That is why some are arguing that multiplication by juxtaposition takes precedence over PEMDAS.
This post was edited on 4/16/15 at 3:49 am
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