Order of operations - what is 6÷2(1+2) ?

[Kostas Kritsilas]

(12-12-2020 07:59 PM)rprosperi Wrote:  

(12-12-2020 02:11 PM)Massimo Gnerucci Wrote:  Bob, have a look at the video I linked above.

Wow, really good video, thanks for the link Massimo!

Seems one conclusion is Algebraic calculators are inconsistent and potentially confusing if you just type in an equation as given.

I'll consider sticking with RPN/RPL machines, which require some thought to use. So I can decide on PEMDAS or even PEJMDAS, based on which math teachers I'm trying to appease, but at least I can expect consistent results.

Does anyone here recall being taught PEJMDAS, even if that acronym wasn't used?

it wasn't called PEJMDAS, but that is the method I was taught mathematics. I am in Canada, though, so I was never exposed to the teachers that taught PEMDAS. My math teachers described it as simplify all the terms to the extent possible, then apply the rules of precedence. So, everything inside the brackets first, then any terms that apply to the bracketed terms, then the rest from right to left foolwing the rules of precedence. I went to school from the late 1960s onward though, so the teachers I learned basic math from all taught what is now called the PEJMDAS method.

I find it interesting in the video, that the higher level sources for precedence that are quoted are all calling for PEJMDAS. The only people who are putting PEMDAS forward are US school teachers. Seems to me, they need to go back to school themselves. This may be the source of the confusion, as to anybody outside the US, the answer is obvious, as it is to the higher level sources cited in the video.