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The Order of Operations: PEMDAS

by Rached H. Business Consultant

A common technique for remembering the order of operations is the abbreviation (or, more properly, the "acronym") "PEMDAS", which is turned into the mnemonic phrase "Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally". This phrase stands for, and helps one remember the order of, "Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication and Division, and Addition and Subtraction". This listing tells you the ranks of the operations: Parentheses outrank exponents, which outrank multiplication and division (but multiplication and division are at the same rank), and multiplication and division outrank addition and subtraction (which are together on the bottom rank). In other words, the precedence is:

  1. Parentheses (simplify inside 'em)
  2. Exponents
  3. Multiplication and Division (from left to right)
  4. Addition and Subtraction (from left to right)
Take this example and tell me in comment which one is the right answer:

A 4 + 2×3 = (4 + 2)×3 = 6×3 = 18

or 

B 4 + 2×3 = 4 + (2×3) = 4 + 6 = 10

Which answer is the right one?


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About Rached H. Committed     Business Consultant

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Joined APSense since, January 12th, 2010, From Tunis, Tunisia.

Created on Jan 16th 2020 15:55. Viewed 278 times.

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