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?

Question

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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Answer 1

I was an English major so I could be way off, but I believe that is incorrect. It can only be 400. Let’s write out the operators to make this more clear.

>1000 **÷** 5 **x** (4-2) = m

First, calculate the parentheses.

>1000 ÷ 5 x **2** = m

Then, division/multiplication. These you *calculate left to right.*

>**200** x 2 = m

>**400** = m.