Friend of mine showed me this last week and I though nothing of it, now I see its on facebook to day. To me all three answers look correct, but I'm sure that only one of them is (the second one).

6÷2(1+2) =

6÷2(3) =

3*3 =

9

 

or

6÷2(1+2) =

6÷2(3) =

6÷6 =

1

 

or

6÷2(1+2) =

6÷2+4 =

3+4 =

7

 

Anyone any ideas?

Edited April 29, 201114 yr by CSte88

it means somebody needs to learn proper mathematical syntax so there is no ambiguity.

http://math.about.com/library/weekly/aa040502a.htm

There are rules for that.

 

But anyone who writes it down so that it can be interpreted in two different ways deserves a spanking.

Edited April 29, 201114 yr by CaptainPanic

I know the rules for it, when I was 12 I learned them. Still, I think its odd how some people see a very simple question differently and get different answers.

Friend of mine showed me this last week and I though nothing of it, now I see its on facebook to day. To me all three answers look correct, but I'm sure that only one of them is (the second one).

6÷2(1+2) =

6÷2(3) =

3*3 =

9

 

or

6÷2(1+2) =

6÷2(3) =

6÷6 =

1

 

or

6÷2(1+2) =

6÷2+4 =

3+4 =

7

 

Anyone any ideas?

 

 

There are commonly accepted orders of operation. Different calculators, for example, may use different rules. Correct use of brackets should eliminate the problem. The last example you give is definitely wrong in that aspect. Check out this wiki article.