Eli5, people are saying that pemdas is absolute and that 1000 / 5(4-2) = m could be either 100 or 400 because the variable m isn’t defined. Could you all elaborate on what that means?
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The problem here is that when you stick two things next to each other, we mean to multiply them. 4y means 4×y. When they’re just stuck to each other, it’s called implicit multiplication. When it’s written out, it’s called explicit multiplication. We sort of treat it as a single object.
But this can lead to ambiguity. With BODMAS/PEMDAS/etc, multiplication and division happen from left to right. But should the implicit stuff skip the queue and come first? I think so, and Casio agrees with me. Others, including Texas Instruments, disagree.
The thing is, it doesn’t matter. No self-respecting mathematician or scientist would ever write something in a way where that made a difference. They’d write it much clearer, using actual fractions (instead of ÷) or more brackets!
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