Lopen's Left Arm @ LopensLeftArm @sh.itjust.works

Posts

30

Comments

636

Joined

2 yr. ago

Yeah, kind of. The crappier calculator is the one generating the incorrect answer. Any calculator with any real level of oomph behind it can parse this correctly to get the correct answer, 16.

No, what I'm explaining to you is the facts behind what every calculator with any modicum of computing power will tell you, namely that 2(2+2) is identical to 2×(2+2).

And there you've proven exactly what I've been saying all along. 2x works the way it does because there's a variable involved, and natural reading of that treats it as a single entity. There are no variables in the equation in the post, there are only definite numbers, parentheses, and simple mathematical operations. 8/2(2+2) is nothing more than 8/2×(2+2). There is nothing special about 2(..., this is not the equivalent of 2x.

Fortunately, the rules necessary to resolve the equation in this post are extremely elementary, so none of what you're referencing has any bearing whatever.

There are exactly three things to consider in here to determine priority: parentheses, multiplication/division, and addition. The addition happens first due to the parentheses, and the remaining is evaluated left-to-right. The only correct answer here is 16.

All your deflection from your embarrassment at misreading a simple equation doesn't detract from this.

I'm well familiar with math and the rules by which it works. Those who persist in arguing the case here could save the rest of us the bother by admitting they were stumped by a simple gotcha equation and are embarrassed, rather than wasting everyone's time by insisting that math is nothing but a lawless, rules-free wasteland where the answer to an equation depends on your feelings at the time.

No, the fact that a good many people are incorrect about how math works does not entail that math is an open question. It's not, math has actual rules to its equations and an unambiguous right answer. In this case, that answer is 16.

Fun fact: Mike Tyson invented the marshmelon.

No, 2( does not bind more tightly than ÷. 2( is simply 2×(..., and ÷ and × occur at the same level of priority. After resolving the addition in the parentheses, the remaining operations are resolved left to right.

I've already seen Liar Liar.

You may know Doug Bergum from the store.

Inaccurate, this has nothing to do with the mnemonic PEMDAS, this has to do with the actual order of operations it tries to instill. That order of operations is not ambiguous, there is a correct way to solve simple equations like the one above, and there is one and only one correct answer to it. That answer is 16.

It is not ambiguous at all, there absolutely is one right answer, and it is 16.

PEMDAS should be read as Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication and Division, Addition and Subtraction. There are four levels of priority, not six.

The correct answer is 16. Multiplication and Division happen at the same level of priority, and are evaluated left-to-right.

You're correct.

This is the dumbest hill that Oregon chooses to die on.

Caitians are cousins of the Kzinti, like Vulcans and Romulans.

Yep! They're Caitians, first seen in TAS.