Quote:
Originally Posted by Geary
You can't just drop the parenthesis at will and replace it with "x". Basic algebra.
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Of course you can't, arbitrarily. But below you can, you don't really
NEED to, but, conventionally speaking, you really should...and you then need to stick in a multiplication symbol, of course.
48÷2(9+3) =
48÷2(12) = 48÷2x12 = 24x12 = n = 288
Surely i jest?
No, 48÷2(12) = 48÷2x12
48÷2x12 = 24x12 = 288
Once (9+3) was executed to give (12), the only function the parentheses serve is to indicate that that sum is to be multiplied by 2, i.e., 2(12).
Since parentheses are used to contain operations to be performed before another operation is performed on those results, once 9 is added to 3, there are no more operations to be performed and the parentheses are therefore not needed any more.
So they are dropped and x is inserted in their place.
Would you write 2(3)=6 or 2x3=6?
See? I bet that clears it up for you, right? Like you say: basic algebra!
