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Math question going around Facebook...


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with more incorrect than correct answers in the votes.

 

1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1-1+1+1+1+1+1+1x0 =?

 

 

As of right now, there are about 850k votes for 0, 700k votes for 14 (correct), and 200k votes for 16.

 

Make sure you get order of operations down! :D

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Mnemonic device:

 

Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally, which means Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication and Division, Addition and Subtraction -- or as I like to say, Please Exhume My Dead Aunt Sally.

 

Also known in countries with British English as BIDMAS, which indicates Brackets, Indices, Division and Multiplication, Addition and Subtraction.

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Isn't there a (can't spell it close enough for spell check to get) device to help you remember? (order of operations) I can't remember it :001_rolleyes:

For order of operation? Yep:

Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally

 

Parentheses-Exponents- Multiplication-Division-Addition-Subtraction

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with more incorrect than correct answers in the votes.

 

1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1-1+1+1+1+1+1+1x0 =?

 

 

As of right now, there are about 850k votes for 0, 700k votes for 14 (correct), and 200k votes for 16.

 

 

 

Which clearly shows that democracy is misplaced when it comes to math

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Ah. Sneaky and proof of my inability to pay attention to details. :blush:

 

At least you got the order of ops right -- there are a number of people on there arguing that 'order of operations doesn't apply when there are no parentheses' :D

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But ... that mnemonic (which I'd never heard) gives the incorrect impression that multiplication has priority over division, and addition over subtraction, when in fact they are equivalent operations.

 

I've found it works better to teach multiplication as repeated adding, and exponentiation as repeated multiplying; and also that division is multiplication by the reciprocal while subtraction is addition of the opposite. Learning those basic ideas makes order of operations intuitive.

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But ... that mnemonic (which I'd never heard) gives the incorrect impression that multiplication has priority over division, and addition over subtraction, when in fact they are equivalent operations.

 

I've found it works better to teach multiplication as repeated adding, and exponentiation as repeated multiplying; and also that division is multiplication by the reciprocal while subtraction is addition of the opposite. Learning those basic ideas makes order of operations intuitive.

 

When you teach the mnemonic, you just teach them ("my dear" and "Aunt Sally") grouped.

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with more incorrect than correct answers in the votes.

 

1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1-1+1+1+1+1+1+1x0 =?

 

 

As of right now, there are about 850k votes for 0, 700k votes for 14 (correct), and 200k votes for 16.

 

Make sure you get order of operations down! :D

 

Wow! I got that wrong!!!! I thought it would be 0!! I'm sometimes embarrassed that I am the one teaching my kids! :tongue_smilie:

Thanks for teaching me! I learned something tonight!

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  • 2 years later...

No matter what you put before that "x 0 =", no matter how astronomically huge and no matter how many - signs or + signs or anything else..the answer will always be and without question ...0, Zero, Nada~.

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No matter what you put before that "x 0 =", no matter how astronomically huge and no matter how many - signs or + signs or anything else..the answer will always be and without question ...0, Zero, Nada~.

 

So (5+5) * 0 = 5 + 5 * 0 ?

ETA: FWIW, I almost missed that -1 too. Fun, kiana! Thanks!

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Mnemonic device:

 

Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally, which means Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication and Division, Addition and Subtraction -- or as I like to say, Please Exhume My Dead Aunt Sally.

 

Also known in countries with British English as BIDMAS, which indicates Brackets, Indices, Division and Multiplication, Addition and Subtraction.

 

In my country (a Commonwealth nation), it was BODMAS. The O was for "Order" I think? Confusing, but somehow, it worked.

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Wow! I got that wrong!!!! I thought it would be 0!! I'm sometimes embarrassed that I am the one teaching my kids! :tongue_smilie:

Thanks for teaching me! I learned something tonight!

 

Happens to me too often to count. Luckily, the kid is sharper than I am.

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No matter what you put before that "x 0 =", no matter how astronomically huge and no matter how many - signs or + signs or anything else..the answer will always be and without question ...0, Zero, Nada~.

 

Please be trolling. Thanks

 

 

I completely missed the minus sign, that annoys me! I am visually impaired though, so at least I have an excuse :P

 

I love seeing people argue about incorrect math facts on these things that get passed around. I've seen it a few times.

 

Also it was BOMDAS here, the O stood for over. I don't know if they were telling us brackets go over the rest, or the numbers over the other numbers (to the power of, etc) or what it actually meant. But I do know my order of operations!

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We have a great mnemonic back home that does not have the issues PEMDAS has, namely suggesting that multiplication ranks before division and addition before subtraction.

We write multiplication by a dot and division by a colon (i.e. two dots above each other). Plus and minus are + and -, made up of lines.

The mnemonic kids get taught in schools is: "dot operations precede line operations". Simple.

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