To understand the reasoning behind the Order of Operations you have to keep in mind that multiplication is just multiple additions and that powers are just multiple multiplications.
Thus
2+3*4 = 2+3+3+3+3=14 or 2+4+4+4=14
If instead you did the addition first
2+3*4 = 5*4=4+4+4+4+4=20 but this would create two more values of 4.
Values that are not in the original problem.
Order of Operations allows us to solve complex problems without having to change everything to addition but still get consistent answers.
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How did Order of Operations Come About?
in Mathematics
Posted
To understand the reasoning behind the Order of Operations you have to keep in mind that multiplication is just multiple additions and that powers are just multiple multiplications.
Thus
2+3*4 = 2+3+3+3+3=14 or 2+4+4+4=14
If instead you did the addition first
2+3*4 = 5*4=4+4+4+4+4=20 but this would create two more values of 4.
Values that are not in the original problem.
Order of Operations allows us to solve complex problems without having to change everything to addition but still get consistent answers.