But don't you distribute the 2 into the parentheses before beginning it? thus making it 4+4 = 8 then 8/8 = 1? This is the debate everyone is having on fakebook..
RE: Math Problem Most People Get Wrong! See if you can solve it!
You are viewing a single comment's thread from:
Math Problem Most People Get Wrong! See if you can solve it!
Sure, while you could distribute, but that's over-complicating the plumbing, as it were, and the distributive property really should only apply when there are variables involved. Otherwise, the work needs to be simplified. Before PEMDAS is applied, all like terms that can be combined and simplified must be combined and simplified.
The technical argument: you're not just distributing the 2, but the whole of "8 / 2".
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit