Order of operations - Revision history

Christian Lawson-Perfect at 11:49, 16 September 2021

2021-09-16T11:49:56Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:49, 16 September 2021
Line 36:		Line 36:
	Adam Townsend and Matthew Scroggs proposed using [https://chalkdustmagazine.com/blog/medusa-new-bodmas/ MEDUSA] instead of BODMAS to reduce ambiguities caused by division being done before multiplication or subtraction being doing before addition.		Adam Townsend and Matthew Scroggs proposed using [https://chalkdustmagazine.com/blog/medusa-new-bodmas/ MEDUSA] instead of BODMAS to reduce ambiguities caused by division being done before multiplication or subtraction being doing before addition.

	Kyle D. Evans' book, [https://atlantic-books.co.uk/book/maths-tricks-to-blow-your-mind/ ~~Math~~ Tricks to Blow Your Mind], collects many examples of viral order of operations problems in Chapter 4.		Kyle D. Evans' book, [https://atlantic-books.co.uk/book/maths-tricks-to-blow-your-mind/ Maths Tricks to Blow Your Mind], collects many examples of viral order of operations problems in Chapter 4.

	[[Category:Ambiguities]]		[[Category:Ambiguities]]

Christian Lawson-Perfect at 11:47, 16 September 2021

2021-09-16T11:47:47Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:47, 16 September 2021
Line 35:		Line 35:

	Adam Townsend and Matthew Scroggs proposed using [https://chalkdustmagazine.com/blog/medusa-new-bodmas/ MEDUSA] instead of BODMAS to reduce ambiguities caused by division being done before multiplication or subtraction being doing before addition.		Adam Townsend and Matthew Scroggs proposed using [https://chalkdustmagazine.com/blog/medusa-new-bodmas/ MEDUSA] instead of BODMAS to reduce ambiguities caused by division being done before multiplication or subtraction being doing before addition.

			Kyle D. Evans' book, [https://atlantic-books.co.uk/book/maths-tricks-to-blow-your-mind/ Math Tricks to Blow Your Mind], collects many examples of viral order of operations problems in Chapter 4.

	[[Category:Ambiguities]]		[[Category:Ambiguities]]

Mscroggs at 15:16, 2 July 2021

2021-07-02T15:16:16Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:16, 2 July 2021
Line 31:		Line 31:

	Christian Lawson-Perfect has made a tool called [https://www.checkmyworking.com/misc/samdob/ SAMDOB] which lets you make up your own mnemonic and see how an expression is evaluated.		Christian Lawson-Perfect has made a tool called [https://www.checkmyworking.com/misc/samdob/ SAMDOB] which lets you make up your own mnemonic and see how an expression is evaluated.

			Colin Beveridge dubbed viral "puzzles" related to misunderstanding the order of operations [https://www.flyingcoloursmaths.co.uk/new-years-resolution-genius-sic/ fake maths].

			Adam Townsend and Matthew Scroggs proposed using [https://chalkdustmagazine.com/blog/medusa-new-bodmas/ MEDUSA] instead of BODMAS to reduce ambiguities caused by division being done before multiplication or subtraction being doing before addition.

	[[Category:Ambiguities]]		[[Category:Ambiguities]]

Christian Lawson-Perfect at 09:27, 2 July 2021

2021-07-02T09:27:27Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:27, 2 July 2021
Line 26:		Line 26:
	'''Add brackets''': around everything??		'''Add brackets''': around everything??

			'''Make up a new rule''': At MathsJam Gathering 2020, Christian Lawson-Perfect suggested adding a rule "M before D except after 3". So \(6 \div 2 \times 3 = 1\), but \(3 \div 2 \times 4 = 6\).

	==References==		==References==

Christian Lawson-Perfect at 12:55, 30 June 2021

2021-06-30T12:55:39Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:55, 30 June 2021
Line 15:		Line 15:

	\( 8 \div 2(1+3) = 16 \) or \( 1 \)		\( 8 \div 2(1+3) = 16 \) or \( 1 \)

			Some people think that the presence or omission of a multiplication symbol in the above expression is important: [[Missing multiplication symbol\|implicit multiplication]] might bind more tightly than the division symbol.

			Several ways of resolving the ambiguity have been suggested, but all the ones [[User:Christian Lawson-Perfect \| I've]] seen introduce other problems.

			==Suggested resolutions==

			'''Reverse Polish Notation''': The expression \((x-2)(x-1)\) would be written instead \(\times \, - \, x \, 2 \, - \, x \, 1\), or something like that. There's no need for brackets or operator precedence, but it is hard to see at a glance what each operator applies to.

			'''Add brackets''': around everything??


			==References==

			Christian Lawson-Perfect has made a tool called [https://www.checkmyworking.com/misc/samdob/ SAMDOB] which lets you make up your own mnemonic and see how an expression is evaluated.

	[[Category:Ambiguities]]		[[Category:Ambiguities]]

Christian Lawson-Perfect at 10:06, 30 June 2021

2021-06-30T10:06:26Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:06, 30 June 2021
Line 15:		Line 15:

	\( 8 \div 2(1+3) = 16 \) or \( 1 \)		\( 8 \div 2(1+3) = 16 \) or \( 1 \)

			[[Category:Ambiguities]]

Christian Lawson-Perfect at 10:00, 30 June 2021

2021-06-30T10:00:13Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:00, 30 June 2021
Line 14:		Line 14:
	This leads to all sorts of misunderstandings.		This leads to all sorts of misunderstandings.

	\( 8 \div 2(1+3) = 16 \~~text{~~ or } 1 \)		\( 8 \div 2(1+3) = 16 \) or \( 1 \)

Christian Lawson-Perfect: Created page with "There are quite a few mnemonics for the order of operations. A common one in the UK is BODMAS: * Brackets * Orders * Division * Multiplication * Addition * Subtraction Elsew..."

2021-06-30T09:57:06Z

Created page with "There are quite a few mnemonics for the order of operations. A common one in the UK is BODMAS: * Brackets * Orders * Division * Multiplication * Addition * Subtraction Elsew..."

New page

There are quite a few mnemonics for the order of operations. A common one in the UK is BODMAS:

* Brackets
* Orders
* Division
* Multiplication
* Addition
* Subtraction

Elsewhere, PEMDAS is popular.

But division and multiplication have equal precedence, and so do addition and subtraction. A common convention is that operations with equal precedence are evaluated from left to right.

This leads to all sorts of misunderstandings.

\( 8 \div 2(1+3) = 16 \text{ or } 1 \)