the random musings not worthy of new thread thread

[SunMo]

no, 288

there is nothing to indicate that 2(9+3) is the denominator of the fraction

[rjs246]

So what you're saying is that the original equation would have to be expressed as 48÷(2(9+3)) =
in order for the answer to be 2?

Or put another way, the original equation is the same as (48÷2)(9+3) =
?

It's been a long time since I did any math that wasn't sports related.

I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't pass 8th grade algebra right now.

[SunMo]

that's my theory, this is apparently a internet phenomena that has been blowing up over the past 2 days.

288 crowd and 2 crowd.  and people really seem to care about math

[rjs246]

I got it 'wrong', which usually infuriates me, and I already don't care. The internet can eat my balls.

[phattymatty]

i haven't been on here in like 2 months and now you guys are doing math problems?

nerds.

and please excuse my dear aunt sally. i was always taught you get rid of the parentheses first so my answer would be 2 also.

[SunMo]

if you follow dear aunt sally then 48÷2(9+3) would lead you to 288

[phattymatty]

except for my entire last sentence, yes.  i thought you were supposed to get rid of the parenthesis totally then go back.

also, you guys are right, who cares.

[Munson]

48÷2(9+3) =


solve this

Just simplify.

48/2*12

24*12

288


Once you get rid of the parenthesis, all you have left is division and multiplication, so you do that in the order they appear in the problem. 48 divided by 2, times 12.

[Sgt PSN]

This is a pretty simple and basic math problem.  Munson is smarter than all of you. 

Idiots. 

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

Because you rarely see a problem expressed like that, you tend to solve the 2(9+3) side first, even though the rules would dictate that dividing and multiplying are of equal precedence and thus the correct answer is 288.

There is really no argument here. The correct answer is 288, but the problem is given in such a way as to confuse people to give the answer of 2. Whoop dee damn doo.

[Sgt PSN]

It's really not that confusing.  The rules of math are pretty simple like reading.  You start on the left and work to the right.  Parenthesis are just a way of telling you to solve the problem contained within them first and independently and then multiply them by whatever is located on the outside unless there is a different command is provided such as division, addition, subtraction, etc.  The reason the problem doesn't read (48/2)(9+3) is because parenthesis are not needed based on the left to right rule.  It's already a given that you solve 48/2 and 9+3 indepenently of each other prior to multiplying the individual answers together to get the final product. 

The only way you can come up with an answer of 2 is if the problem reads as 48/(2(9+3)), in which case,  you would solve 9+3=12. Then 2x12=24.  Now that you've solved all of the problems within parenthesis, you can apply the left to right rule which is 48/24=2.

Didn't you just get your Masters? 

[rjs246]

Jesus christ we get it. No one cares.

[SunMo]

the arguement is that 2(9+3) is the entire denominator thus the problem would read

  48
-------
2(9+3)

its this huge nerd battle and people get pretty fired up about it.

internet.

[Sgt PSN]

Jesus christ we get it. No one cares.

I do.  But I love math.  It's very cliche to say it but it's the one true universal language and there is no grey area with it.  You're either right or wrong.  Granted, I'm no math genious and couldn't even begin to solve complex calulous equations or anything like.  But basic math, algebra, trig and geometry has always been very appealing to me.  It gets me.  And I get it.  heart. 

[Sgt PSN]

the arguement is that 2(9+3) is the entire denominator thus the problem would read

  48
-------
2(9+3)

its this huge nerd battle and people get pretty fired up about it.

internet.

That's the thing though....it's not a nerd battle because nerds (and even psuedo wanna be math nerds like myself) know the basic fundamentals to solving basic math problems.  It's the people who haven't done math without the aid of a caluclator since high school who are confused by it.  They say that it's confusing and that the problem is somewhat misleading because they've simply forgotten how to properly solve the problem and are only applying the part of the rule that they remember. 

This is fascinating stuff.  I want to start a math thread.