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6÷2(1+2) = ?

  • 9

    Votes: 94 54.3%
  • 1

    Votes: 77 44.5%
  • 7

    Votes: 2 1.2%

  • Total voters
    173
That explains my sex-ed teacher. :eek:

^^^

I don't care who you are, that's funny!

Thank you all for this wonderful math discussion. I thought I understood math before this thread. Anyway, it seems to me that the answer has to be 9.

Givens:
1. PEDMAS is correct
2. PEDMAS = PEMDSA (as a Randian Objctivist I assert that division and multiplication have equal standings in the order of operations and cannot at the same time be unequal due to someone creating a mnemonic.)
3. The person who posed this question knew enough about math to understand the logic problems this would cause mathletes.
4. With point 3 stipulated, the original author could have written this problem as 6/2(1+2), but didn't for a reason. (for some reason I can't stop thinking of Vizzini arguing with himself over which goblet of iocane laced wine he should drink for the Dread Pirate Roberts)

Therefore, we have :
6 divided by 2(3) (I just spent 3 minutes looking for the divided by symbol on my keyboard without success)

3(3)

9

BTW, after being out of high school for over 20 years I am taking my math placement tests for college on Tuesday. I do not have the math background that some on this board have, but hopefully I'll be computer engineer in a few years. This tread is certainly thought provoking.
 
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I find the teachers I had that were passionate about what they were teaching were the best teachers.

I agree... but sometimes... they can be a bit too passionate. lol One of my linguistics professors would often go on big tangents if he was on a "roll". lol It usually ended up with him trying to explain things with terms that we haven't even heard of before. He definitely knows his stuff though!
 
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I was taught that a number next to parenthesis means nothing more than a multiplication sign. Therefore, 6 / 2(3) reads 6 / 2 * 3 = 9.

Anyone who says do order of operations and gets the answer 1 is simply mistaken for what the P in PEMDAS means. It means do what is INSIDE the parenthesis, not multiply what is on the outside by what is on the inside.
 
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Welcome windowshade! I've seen several emails from math professors that solved the problem and they all say 9 (if none of them are photoshopped... but that would be a bit extreme). I'll see if I can try to dig them up because I saw them in the many posts on Facebook.

I do agree with the poster that it would be different if the symbol was '/' instead of '
 
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I can't believe this is still floating around...it's 1.

Simple math...

Because of the parentheses, 6
 

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So...mathematically.... How'd you separate the '2' from the '(1+2)'
As in the attachment, if you separate the '2' from the '(1+2)', I don't think 9 is your answer.
.
I dunno... even kAlgebra under Linux gives answer as 1.

Good problem, though!

My earlier posts covered how this is was a compiler and tool issue.

The answer is 9.
 
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Not mathematically.
Noone's showing any math working out that

6
-----
2(1+2)

equals 9


Who knows - maybe it's NewMath


BUT!

I guarantee we'll settle this before Moto unlocks the Atrix bootloader :)


UPDATE: All I want to see is the math worked out.

I just want someone, ANYONE, to show me how

6
----
2(1+2)

is equal to 9

look at it this way. Car inventory.

ya got 6 cars on an available-for-sale list.
your total available cars divided my inventories cars SHOULD = 1, or you got math issues.

so using that, I have a list saying I have a total of 6 cars available available for sale.
I have 2 lots, each with 1 new car, and 2 used cars.

[URL="http://androidforums.com/lounge/325798-6-2-1-2-a-3.html#post2638205"] 6
 
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Not mathematically.
Noone's showing any math working out that

6
-----
2(1+2)

equals 9


Who knows - maybe it's NewMath


BUT!

I guarantee we'll settle this before Moto unlocks the Atrix bootloader :)


Because that's an incorrect representation of the original problem. You cant just move the 2+1 to the denomainator just because a 2 is multiplied to it.

That would be like saying:


1
___ = 2+1
2+1

Which is clearly wrong.

Everyone who comes up with 1 for the answer has to multiply the two next even though that isn't correct in the order of operations, because they "see" the problem in their minds as 6
 
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I have read the thread, even followed the links, even to the one where someone links to google, and the formula gets obfuscated to (6/2)*(1+2) which is NOT the original expression...

Then there was the detour about functions...


Oh - and I STILL say this will be settled before the Atrix bootloader issue is :)

Can't believe there is SO MUCH about this on the net!

googling " 6
 
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