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This crap again. *weary sigh*
https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/math/a28569610/viral-math-problem-2019-solved/
My sister sent me this link in an email this morning. Below is the copy/paste of my reply to her:
I saw something similar to this (but with a different equation) several months ago.
People just don't understand how order of operations properly work.
8 ÷ 2(2 + 2) is the same thing as 8 ÷ 2 x (2 + 2).
8 ÷ 2 x (2 + 2).
8 ÷ 2 x 4.
4 x 4.
16.
Or
8 ÷ 2 x (2 + 2).
4 x (2 + 2).
4 x 4.
16.
Either way, the answer is 16.
The person in the article trying to say that
8
--------
2(2+2)
is the same equation was wrong. That would be 8 ÷ (2 x (2 + 2)), which is not the same thing as 8 ÷ 2 x (2 + 2).
8 ÷ (2 x (2 + 2)).
8 ÷ (2 x 4).
8 ÷ 8.
1.
That's the only way that 1 would be the correct answer. Again, though, it's still following order of operations.
Google gets it right both ways:
https://www.google.com/search?q=8%2F2%282%2B2%29
16.
https://www.google.com/search?q=8%2F%282%282%2B2%29%29
1.
(EDIT) And now I've got someone arguing with me on Facebook about how they think it should be 1 and if you substitute (2+2) with "x" or "a" or whatever shit, and I'm just fed up with it all. I'm just as tired of this now as I was before, when it cropped up a few months ago. The answer is one or the other. I say it's 16, at least as the equation was originally expressed. Maybe I'm wrong. I don't think I am, but maybe I am. Maybe math is fucked up and someone needs to revamp and clarify how order of operations should be properly calculated, in order to get rid of this asinine ambiguity. I don't know (or care) anymore. All I know is that Google, and every other calculator I've plugged this into, says that the answer is 16, as initially expressed, without adding any extra parentheses or rewriting as "8 over 2 times (2 plus 2)" (both of which I agree would be 1, if the extra parentheses were around "2 times (2 plus 2)") or substituting for a variable or whatever else that wasn't how the equation was originally expressed, which agrees with how I would work the problem if doing it on paper (which I've also done and still get 16).
Hell, for what it's worth, my crappy, non-smart cellphone doesn't even let me input it directly as "8÷2(2+2)". It forces me to put the "x" (multiplication sign) between "2" and "(2+2)." If I type "8÷2" and then try to hit the open parenthesis key, it doesn't input anything. Only after I hit the multiply key to add the "x" symbol to the equation does it then let me add the "open parenthesis two plus two close parenthesis" part of it. (And it gives 16 as the answer.)
And when I tried to input it into my actual smartphone (old-ass Samsung Galaxy S3), it automatically adds the "x" (multiplication sign) between the "2" and "(2+2)", even though I didn't hit the multiplication key between pressing "2" and the parenthesis button. And, of course, it gives the answer as 16. In other words, it also expresses it as "8 ÷ 2 x (2 + 2)" and doesn't allow the ambiguous "8÷2(2+2)" expression, just like my non-smart phone did. It's just that the "smart" phone is apparently "smart" enough to put the "x" in by itself without explicitly forcing me to do it.
But what do I know? Maybe all the calculators are wrong, too, and everyone who claims that the answer is "1" are still in the right. *shrug* (/EDIT)
https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/math/a28569610/viral-math-problem-2019-solved/
My sister sent me this link in an email this morning. Below is the copy/paste of my reply to her:
I saw something similar to this (but with a different equation) several months ago.
People just don't understand how order of operations properly work.
8 ÷ 2(2 + 2) is the same thing as 8 ÷ 2 x (2 + 2).
8 ÷ 2 x (2 + 2).
8 ÷ 2 x 4.
4 x 4.
16.
Or
8 ÷ 2 x (2 + 2).
4 x (2 + 2).
4 x 4.
16.
Either way, the answer is 16.
The person in the article trying to say that
8
--------
2(2+2)
is the same equation was wrong. That would be 8 ÷ (2 x (2 + 2)), which is not the same thing as 8 ÷ 2 x (2 + 2).
8 ÷ (2 x (2 + 2)).
8 ÷ (2 x 4).
8 ÷ 8.
1.
That's the only way that 1 would be the correct answer. Again, though, it's still following order of operations.
Google gets it right both ways:
https://www.google.com/search?q=8%2F2%282%2B2%29
16.
https://www.google.com/search?q=8%2F%282%282%2B2%29%29
1.
(EDIT) And now I've got someone arguing with me on Facebook about how they think it should be 1 and if you substitute (2+2) with "x" or "a" or whatever shit, and I'm just fed up with it all. I'm just as tired of this now as I was before, when it cropped up a few months ago. The answer is one or the other. I say it's 16, at least as the equation was originally expressed. Maybe I'm wrong. I don't think I am, but maybe I am. Maybe math is fucked up and someone needs to revamp and clarify how order of operations should be properly calculated, in order to get rid of this asinine ambiguity. I don't know (or care) anymore. All I know is that Google, and every other calculator I've plugged this into, says that the answer is 16, as initially expressed, without adding any extra parentheses or rewriting as "8 over 2 times (2 plus 2)" (both of which I agree would be 1, if the extra parentheses were around "2 times (2 plus 2)") or substituting for a variable or whatever else that wasn't how the equation was originally expressed, which agrees with how I would work the problem if doing it on paper (which I've also done and still get 16).
Hell, for what it's worth, my crappy, non-smart cellphone doesn't even let me input it directly as "8÷2(2+2)". It forces me to put the "x" (multiplication sign) between "2" and "(2+2)." If I type "8÷2" and then try to hit the open parenthesis key, it doesn't input anything. Only after I hit the multiply key to add the "x" symbol to the equation does it then let me add the "open parenthesis two plus two close parenthesis" part of it. (And it gives 16 as the answer.)
And when I tried to input it into my actual smartphone (old-ass Samsung Galaxy S3), it automatically adds the "x" (multiplication sign) between the "2" and "(2+2)", even though I didn't hit the multiplication key between pressing "2" and the parenthesis button. And, of course, it gives the answer as 16. In other words, it also expresses it as "8 ÷ 2 x (2 + 2)" and doesn't allow the ambiguous "8÷2(2+2)" expression, just like my non-smart phone did. It's just that the "smart" phone is apparently "smart" enough to put the "x" in by itself without explicitly forcing me to do it.
But what do I know? Maybe all the calculators are wrong, too, and everyone who claims that the answer is "1" are still in the right. *shrug* (/EDIT)
