My thought process: if I had 8÷(4+4) = 1 and factored out a 2, I get 8÷2(2+2) = 1. However, if I say 2(2+2) = 2*(2+2), then 8÷2(2+2) = 8÷2*(2+2) = 1, BUT 8÷2*(2+2) = 16.
Please help I’m feeling dumber by the second
In: Mathematics
It’s the order of operations. Stuff in parentheses is done first. Then, you do any multiplication or division, and finally any addition or subtraction. If there are multiple addition/subtraction or multiplication/division operations, work them rightmost to leftmost. For your example, here’s how it goes:
8÷2(2+2)
Do the stuff in parentheses, and you get:
8÷2(4)
Do the first multiplication (that is, 2*4):
8÷8
And the last division (8÷8) gives you:
1
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