Tricky Basic Math Problem

[theONEjanitor]

You may've seen this before, it's kind of famous on the internet.

Anyway

48 ÷ 2(9+3) = ??

do you get 288 or 2? i've figured out the correct answer, but i'm interested to see if you guys are smarter than me, because it took me a minute to be completely sure.

 

[Diatenshi]

48/2*12

288

 

[Purple]

The answer is 2 imo

 

[Gahtzu]

288. Google has spoken.

 

[MarsFool!]

Get wrecked Chris.

Edit lol true @ below

 

[Pengie]

288

PEMDAS

You multiply and divide with whichever comes first out left to right so

48 /2(9+3)
48 /2(12)
24 * 12
288

 

[theONEjanitor]

the correct answer is 288.

because of all the stupid mnemonic devices we were taught as kids, a lot of people think that multiplication comes before division in the order of operations, but it doesn't. Multiplication and division are equal, you do them from left to right. In this case, you would divide before you multiply. but even for people who understand the order of operations, the problem is people are unwilling to "detach" the 2 from the (9+3) for some reason, even though all that means is just 2 times (9+3)

 

[Purple]

Alright, I swore I wasn't wrong in my thought process when doing this, so I'm going to redo this question piece by piece to ensure if I'm right or wrong.

We all know PEMDAS and I don't know what T1J is talking about, but I learned that certain parts of PEMDAS are equal, and you instead go by their location in the equation instead of their letter placement.

So instead of PEMDAS, it's more like P.E.M/D.A/S

Anyways

48 ÷ 2(9+3) = ??

Obviously the Parentheses comes first, which leaves us with

48 ÷ 2(12) = ??

Here is where people get confused, and is probably what has to be argued out. 2(12) by the distributive property this should be next because it technically still deals with the parentheses (at least this is how I'd figure it to be, If it was 48 ÷ 2 X (9+3) it'd be different a different story, and would equal 228.)

So here it would be


48 ÷ 24 = ??

Which is 2.

 

[theONEjanitor]

Alright, I swore I wasn't wrong in my thought process when doing this, so I'm going to redo this question piece by piece to ensure if I'm right or wrong.

We all know PEMDAS and I don't know what T1J is talking about, but I learned that certain parts of PEMDAS are equal, and you instead go by their location in the equation instead of their letter placement.

So instead of PEMDAS, it's more like P.E.M/D.A/S

Anyways

48 ÷ 2(9+3) = ??

Obviously the Parentheses comes first, which leaves us with

48 ÷ 2(12) = ??

Here is where people get confused, and is probably what has to be argued out. 2(12) by the distributive property this should be next because it technically still deals with the parentheses (at least this is how I'd figure it to be, If it was 48 ÷ 2 X (9+3) it'd be different a different story, and would equal 228.)

So here it would be


48 ÷ 24 = ??

Which is 2.

2 X (9+3)
is EXACTLY the same as 2(9+3)

2(12) is multiplication. it is not "solving something inside of the parenthesis" because there is no equation inside of parenthesis. 2(12) is exactly the same as 'two times twelve.' which is basic multiplication which means the division before it has to be solved first

 

[Purple]

And that's why I failed math.

Not really.

 

[theONEjanitor]

to be fair, the problem is intentionally confusing and has poor mathematical form

 

[hungrybox]

I agree

288

 

[hungrybox]

http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10150145878432135&id=537802134&notif_t=feed_comment

get at the kid

 

[Эикельманн [РУС]]

It's a lot more complex than you realize, as there is what we call in math, an indeterminant PEMDAS syntax function. You'll need to use logarithmic laws:

*take log to base e of both sides:
ln(?) = ln(48/2 * (9+3) + 1)
= 16*ln(24^3) + 18 (using eigenvalue's constant)
= ebs(186.774^14e)
= -19.4457

 

[exarch]

lol ian.

Though I think it'd be more accurate to take a Fourier transform and apply the Cauchy-Schwartz theorem.

 

[Curlz]

The PEMDAS rule says we have to do all operations inside parentheses before we can multiply. However, the DISTRIBUTIVE PROPERTY allows us to violate the PEMDAS rule to a certain extent. It allows us to multiply first without doing the operations of addition or subtraction inside the parentheses first. However, when we use the distributive property we must multiply by every term inside the parentheses.

48 ÷ 2(9+3) = ??

48 ÷ ([2*9] + [2*3])
48 ÷ (18 + 6)
48 ÷ 24
2

 

[ZIO]

My Ti-83 has determined it to be 288.

This calculator has gotten me through highschool and all my math classes in College.

Its credibility cannot be argued.

 

[Dark Sonic]

The PEMDAS rule says we have to do all operations inside parentheses before we can multiply. However, the DISTRIBUTIVE PROPERTY allows us to violate the PEMDAS rule to a certain extent. It allows us to multiply first without doing the operations of addition or subtraction inside the parentheses first. However, when we use the distributive property we must multiply by every term inside the parentheses.

48 ÷ 2(9+3) = ??

48 ÷ ([2*9] + [2*3])
48 ÷ (18 + 6)
48 ÷ 24
2

You're mistake is that you're trying to attach to 2 to the "(9+3)"

well, what if I rewrote your example like this?

48/2(9+3)

it would then distribute as

(48/2 * 9) + (48/2 * 3)
(24 * 9) + (24 *3)
216 + 72
218

 

[Curlz]

You're mistake is that you're trying to attach to 2 to the "(9+3)"

well, what if I rewrote your example like this?

48/2(9+3)

it would then distribute as

(48/2 * 9) + (48/2 * 3)
(24 * 9) + (24 *3)
216 + 72
218

You wouldn't need to distribute the "48/" even if it was rewritten as you stated. The way you wrote down the problem would be written out as "Forty-eight divided by 2 times the sum of nine and three".

Basically stating:

48
2(9+3)

Which would follow the same rule that I stated above.

48
[(2*9) + (2*3)]

48
(18 + 6)

48
24

2

If you rewrite the equation 48/2(9+3) then the division bar is treated as another form of parentheses which you would have to finish before the rest of PEMDAS.

 

[iceman48]

Sure, Curlz, but Al Gore invented the internet and the internet says the answer is 288. Are you saying Al Gore is wrong? I rest my case.

 

[exarch]

I'm not sure whether Curlz is trolling or actually doesn't get it.

 

[Эикельманн [РУС]]

Definitely not trolling.

 

[Dark Sonic]

You wouldn't need to distribute the "48/" even if it was rewritten as you stated. The way you wrote down the problem would be written out as "Forty-eight divided by 2 times the sum of nine and three".

Basically stating:

48
2(9+3)

Which would follow the same rule that I stated above.

48
[(2*9) + (2*3)]

48
(18 + 6)

48
24

2

If you rewrite the equation 48/2(9+3) then the division bar is treated as another form of parentheses which you would have to finish before the rest of PEMDAS.

Except that the statement (9+3) is not actually under the division bar in the first place.

48/2(9+3)

IS NOT

....48....
2(9+3)

it's actually

48(9+3)
.....2.....


you see the statement (9+3) is equivalent to
(9+3)
...1...


so 48
.....2 * (9+3)

is equal to

48 * (9+3)
.2........1...
then it's simple multiplication. You multiply the first numerator by the second numerator, and the first denominator by the second denominator.


You also got your worded translation of the problem wrong (or rather, you confused it's meaning)
"Forty-eight divided by 2 times the sum of nine and three" is represented just how I wrote it above
the example you provided would be stated as
"Forty eight divided by the product of 2 times the sum of 9 and 3"
or
48/(2(9+3))

 

[Dorsey]

Of course it's 2.

edit: alright, it's 288, solely due to it being written horribly. Not a famous, basic math problem. Just a popular troll.

 

[ChKn]

TI-84 says 288.

 

[Strong Badam]

hungrybox says 288 and so do I.
48/2 = 24, * 11 = 288. after you do the 9+3, you go left to right as multiplication and division are of the same priority.
5(10) is the same as 5*10, keep in mind. There's nothing special about parenthesis when used to simply multiply.