48÷2(9+3) = ????

[DARISC]

Originally Posted by masraum

Dude! You're killin' me here. Look how these two things are written.

Oh man - I'm sorry. I told you I'm clerically challenged and make a lot of tpyos.

I came up with 288 and 17, then went to Wolfram and got the same answers (after a number of tpyos). I'm a freakin' artist, not a mathematician (like, surprise, surprise!). I better shut up, huh?

Here's what I have, tpyo free:





I just called a buddy of mine who aced his math SAT and got a degree in astrophysics. I don't know ANYONE who comes close to him in math skills. I read him the equations and he said, You're kidding me! You can't do this? I said, I'm not sure at this point, just gimme the damn numbers. Well, he said, the first one is 288 and...the second one is 17.

I told him about this thread and he said, Yeah, some equations can be written in a way that can cause people to make errors. but there's nothing 'wrong' with the way these two are written.

So I'm stickin' with 288 and 17 and keepin' my dumb mouth shut from here on in.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by DARISC

Oh man - I'm sorry. I told you I'm clerically challenged and make a lot of tpyos.

I came up with 288 and 17, then went to Wolfram and got the same answers (after a number of tpyos). I'm a freakin' artist, not a mathematician (like, surprise, surprise!). I better shut up, huh?



I just called a buddy of mine who aced his math SAT and got a degree in astrophysics. I don't know ANYONE who comes close to him in math skills. I read him the equations and he said, You're kidding me! You can't do this? I said, I'm not sure at this point, just gimme the damn numbers. Well, he said, the first one is 288 and...the second one is 17.

I told him about this thread and he said, Yeah, some equations can be written in a way that can cause people to make errors. but there's nothing 'wrong' with the way these two are written.

So I'm stickin' with 288 and 17 and keepin' my dumb mouth shut from here on in.

You're doing good in my book. I knew you had it right, I just couldn't figure out what was going on with your posts.

My wife got the equation right. She's not really a math person. She did take Calc 1 a few years back to get her Biology degree, but she certainly didn't consider it easy. When I asked her the question, she gave me the 24x12 answer right away. When I told her of the issues here, she said, "you just follow the rules and that's the answer."

I got a 780 (out of 800) on the math portion of the SATs when I took it. Took Calc in HS and AP tested out of basic calc 1 in college. I took engineering calc 1, 2, 3 and differential equations in college. I recently took Calc 1, 2, and 3 again and got A, A, and B. I'm sure there are plenty of guys on this board that have me beat in quantity and quality of math work in school, but I'm no slouch.

[MattKellett]

You wouldn't believe how many forums this is on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wv19iAncrrQ


This is the best thing to come out of the equation.

[trekkor]

I don't understand the confusion.

I don't pretend to be a math guru, Jedi or Sherpa, but I got 288 immediately...


KT

[DARISC]

I think you're a Sherpa.

[trekkor]

...Maybe I am.

Who really knows anymore?


KT

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by svandamme

Pete, what rule says that the brackets apply to what's outside of the bracket?
Can you show me something that backs up your way of doing it?

Romand provided it here: The Order of Operations: More Examples

A multiplier against a term in brackets takes precedence.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

Romand provided it here: The Order of Operations: More Examples

A multiplier against a term in brackets takes precedence.

The problem is that for this one site that lists the little known rule that stuff stuck to the outside of a paren takes precedence over stuff that is more geographically removed from the paren, there are 100 other sites that have no mention of this apparently little known rule.

[AirKuhl]

Since so many here have been all grumpy and irritating about how this is just basic grade school math, I decided to ask an actual basic grade schooler (i.e., my 12 yo kid) to solve the problem.

My kid got an answer that no one else on the thread has proposed yet.

48/2(9+3)
48/18+6
2.66666+6

8.666666....

I got a chuckle out of that and he looked again and said, "oh wait, duh, I have to distribute the whole 48/2, not just the 2".

48/2(9+3)
24(9+3)
216+72=288

Must be that California public education. But it is interesting that he totally saw it as a distribution equation.

[AirKuhl]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

"Objectiveness?" Is that really a word? It's "objectivity." Sheesh. And don't give me the old argument about "objectiveness" vs "objectivity" being subjective.

Really, a word choice flame?

objectiveness - Wiktionary

objectiveness (Noun)
The characteristic of being objective; neutrality.

Synonyms
objectivity



Hmm, how about this:

Oh yeah? Well at least I don't put cinnamon in my spaghetti sauce and call it chili.

[masraum]

Quote de wdfifteen

A multiplier against a term in brackets takes precedence.

That's what the sophomore in our house told me.



I'm sticking with 288 though.

I still think that's a load of crap. Other than the one link, I can't find any other reference to that and I've never heard it before.

[DARISC]

Originally Posted by AirKuhl

...Well at least I don't put cinnamon in my spaghetti sauce and call it chili.

I have an appreciativeness for the humorosity of that retort.

Also, that sounds tasty and, with your permission, I'm going to name it 'AirKuhled Heat' and use it for the final recipe in my upcoming cookbook, '288 Chili Recipes For The Algebraically Impaired'.

[AirKuhl]

Originally Posted by DARISC

I have an appreciativeness for the humorosity of that retort.

Also, that sounds tasty and, with your permission, I'm going to name it 'AirKuhled Heat' and use it for the final recipe in my upcoming cookbook, '288 Chili Recipes For The Algebraically Impaired'.

Sorry man, I'm from central Texas and I'm not allowed to be associated with anything called chili that contains much more than dried chili peppers, cumin and cubes of beef. Cinnamon, tomatoes, beans and noodles are right out.



EDIT: all you big brain types, here's a simple math question:


Does 0.999999999.... = 1?

[Mo_Gearhead]

QUOTE: "Does 0.999999999.... = 1?"
____________

YES! There's my missing DOLLAR!!!!

[krystar]

yes it does

1/3 = 0.3333...
3*1/3 = 0.9999...
1 = 0.999...

[masraum]

Originally Posted by krystar

yes it does

1/3 = 0.3333...
3*1/3 = 0.9999...
1 = 0.999...

Hhahahaha

[DARISC]

Wasn't there some old Monk, back in the old Monk days, who got to be an old Monk by spending all his non-praying time figuring out pi to thousands of places?

[krystar]

what about the crazy ass chinese kid that memorized pi to 67,890 digits recognized by Guiness.

"It took him 24 hours and 4 minutes to recite to the 67,890th decimal place of π without an error."

crazy!

[AirKuhl]

Originally Posted by krystar

yes it does

1/3 = 0.3333...
3*1/3 = 0.9999...
1 = 0.999...

But if I were inclined to believe otherwise, I might say that we all know that 0.9 does not equal 1. And 0.999999 does not equal 1. So how many 9's specifically do you need before somehow magically it turns into a 1?

[DARISC]

Originally Posted by AirKuhl

...Does 0.999999999.... = 1?

yes:

0.9999999999=1/0.999999999=1.000000001/1=1