Order of Operations
The Starbucks nearest to my office is having some sort of contest. To enter, you have to write down your name, phone number, and answer to the following skill-testing question: 116 + 12 - 3 x 2. I cannot believe how many adults are answering this incorrectly. I'd say the majority of answers in the basket are 250, when in fact, the correct answer is 122. For those of you in need of a quick refresher in the order of operations, here it is: multiplication and division comes before addition and subtraction. So, taking into account the order of operations, the skill-testing question should be written like so: 116 + 12 - (3 x 2). Perform the multiplication first (3 x 2 = 6), and then do the rest of the equation: 116 + 12 - 6 = 122. I even saw an entry from that had 122 written down, but then the person crossed it off and wrote 250, probably because he or she saw that so many others had put 250. You may remember the acronym, BEDMAS: Brackets, Exponents, Division, Multiplication, Addition, Subtraction. Google also brought to light an alternative way to remember: Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally. P is for Parentheses, which I believe is more correct than brackets. If Starbucks disqualifies those who forgot their elementary math, my chances of winning will probably be pretty good.
Posted at 10:36
