Maths problem

[The Hallucinating Goose]

If you work out this maths problem, what answer do you get? 

8 - 8 x 8 + 8

 

I don't know if maths is taught differently these days but apparently the answer I get is not correct. 

[Sidi Fidi Gold]

Maths was never my strong point but I got 8

[Sidi Fidi Gold]

9 minutes ago, Sidi Fidi Gold said:

Maths was never my strong point but I got 8

I've noticed I got a like, I don't know if that's because I got the answer right or because I was brave enough to make a fool of myself

Anyway. my working out was

8-8 = 0

0x8 =0

0+8 = 8

[Maximus Decimus]

-48.

BIDMAS

[Farmduck]

I get -48. (I actually got 84- but that's just the Coriolis Effect)

[JohnM]

1 hour ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

If you work out this maths problem, what answer do you get? 

8 - 8 x 8 + 8

 

I don't know if maths is taught differently these days but apparently the answer I get is not correct. 8-64-88

8-64-8=-56-8 =-48

[The Hallucinating Goose]

1 hour ago, Sidi Fidi Gold said:

Maths was never my strong point but I got 8

Right, 8 is what I get from doing it exactly the same way you did it. Like yourself, I was never very good at maths. 

Can someone please explain to me, as simply as possible, why the answer is -48?

[glossop saint]

7 hours ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

Right, 8 is what I get from doing it exactly the same way you did it. Like yourself, I was never very good at maths. 

Can someone please explain to me, as simply as possible, why the answer is -48?

Maximus mentioned BIDMAS above. Also known as BODMAS. It helps you remember which order to do the separate calculations in. Brackets, operations or indices (any squaring or cubing etc), division, multiplication, addition, subtraction. 

[The Hallucinating Goose]

27 minutes ago, glossop saint said:

Maximus mentioned BIDMAS above. Also known as BODMAS. It helps you remember which order to do the separate calculations in. Brackets, operations or indices (any squaring or cubing etc), division, multiplication, addition, subtraction. 

I was always taught you did the calculations in brackets if there is any and then do the rest of the problem in order as it is written. So if the 8 x 8 was in brackets you would get -48 but it isn't in brackets here so, like I say, I was taught you just did the separate calculations in the order they are written. 

[MattSantos]

1 hour ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

I was always taught you did the calculations in brackets if there is any and then do the rest of the problem in order as it is written. So if the 8 x 8 was in brackets you would get -48 but it isn't in brackets here so, like I say, I was taught you just did the separate calculations in the order they are written. 

This is where i stand. No brackets, no order of calculations required

[JohnM]

1 hour ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

I was always taught you did the calculations in brackets if there is any and then do the rest of the problem in order as it is written. So if the 8 x 8 was in brackets you would get -48 but it isn't in brackets here so, like I say, I was taught you just did the separate calculations in the order they are written. The 

The brackets are implied. Confirmation from TonyXIII, please.

 

[Padge]

The algebraic rules of precedence are:

1. Brackets 
2. Exponents  
3. Multiplication
4. Division
5. Addition
6. Subtraction.

BEMDAS

Computer programmers who do not understand maths cause confusion as they sometimes write programs that do a straight left to right order of calculation.

[The Hallucinating Goose]

59 minutes ago, JohnM said:

The brackets are implied. Confirmation from TonyXIII, please.

 

How do you know where the brackets are implied? 

[ivans82]

11 hours ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

If you work out this maths problem, what answer do you get? 

8 - 8 x 8 + 8

 

I don't know if maths is taught differently these days but apparently the answer I get is not correct. 

Asked a lot of people  (of a certain age) , they all answered 8 .....so it seems maths is taught differently these days .

[JohnM]

8 minutes ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

How do you know where the brackets are implied? 

Drummed into me in maths lessons.

Actually, Padge explained it perfectly in his post. In the absence of parentheses and exponents, you evaluate the multiplication. 

Edited December 18, 2023 by JohnM

[HawkMan]

Just tried it on my calculator on my phone.

When I did, 8-8×8+8 I got -48

However doing,  8-8=, then ×8=, then +8=   got 8.

The calculator assuming brackets around 8x8

[hindle xiii]

13 hours ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

If you work out this maths problem, what answer do you get? 

8 - 8 x 8 + 8

 

I don't know if maths is taught differently these days but apparently the answer I get is not correct. 

Super 8s.

[Wolford6]

Search me.

 

Coming from a council estate, I've never been sure how many "f"s there are in Mafs.

[Midlands hobo]

64.

8*8 is 64 + and - 8 cancel each other out.

[Padge]

6 hours ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

How do you know where the brackets are implied? 

If you see x or * or / or ÷ then brackets are implied around the numbers either side of the operator when they are not there.

1+2*3 therefore is 1+(2*3)=7 and 1-2÷4 therefore is 1-(2÷4)=0.5

Simple calculators work on a straight (incorrect) left to right operation, scientific calculators usually follow the algebraic convention.

Edited December 18, 2023 by Padge

[unapologetic pedant]

18 hours ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

If you work out this maths problem, what answer do you get? 

8 - 8 x 8 + 8

Treated as the left side of an algebraic equation where a is 4, it becomes 2a - 2a × 2a + 2a.

This would be written 2a(2a - 2a) + 2a.

Clearly, the first term equals zero, leaving 2a. Hence, the answer is 8.

[gingerjon]

How many confidently asserted answers that can't be all be right are we up to now?

[Padge]

35 minutes ago, unapologetic pedant said:

Treated as the left side of an algebraic equation where a is 4, it becomes 2a - 2a × 2a + 2a.

This would be written 2a(2a - 2a) + 2a.

Clearly, the first term equals zero, leaving 2a. Hence, the answer is 8.

No it would be 2a -(2a*2a)+2a Or 8-(8*8)+8 the first operator is * thus it becomes 8-64+8  next 8-64 = -56 giving -56+8 which = -48.

Answer is -48

Note Multiplication and Division have equal weighting as do addition and subtraction, once the multiplication is done the maths becomes a straight left to right calculation.

Edited December 18, 2023 by Padge

[marklaspalmas]

11 minutes ago, Padge said:

Multiplication and Division have equal weighting as do addition and subtraction, once the multiplication is done the maths becomes a straight left to right calculation.

 

8 hours ago, Padge said:

The algebraic rules of precedence are:

1. Brackets 
2. Exponents  
3. Multiplication
4. Division
5. Addition
6. Subtraction.

BEMDAS

Computer programmers who do not understand maths cause confusion as they sometimes write programs that do a straight left to right order of calculation.

So is your 1 to 6 order wrong? Shouldn't it be 1, 2 3=, 3=, 5=, 5=

[bobbruce]

8 hours ago, ivans82 said:

Asked a lot of people  (of a certain age) , they all answered 8 .....so it seems maths is taught differently these days .

It’s not just taught differently if you put it in that order into a calculator it does come out as -48.