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Spirit Phone - Submitted by TheSpectreQueen 

Parentheses equation is 2+2, which is 4.

Now we multiply by 2 to get 4x2 which is 8

8 DIVIDED BY 8 is 1.

8 / 2 * (2+2) = 

8/2 * (4) = 

4*4 = 16

PEMDAS

8/2*(2+2) (P = Parentheses)

8/2*(4) (M = Multiply)

8/8=1 (D = Division)

@kingoftartesoss​

M isn’t in the original problem but 8÷2 still needs a resolution. You have to solve 8÷2 as-is after (2+2) no matter what.

So you’re not following PEMDAS by factoring x4 into 8÷2.

So the problem is two-fold: first, order of operations as most people are taught it is a lie, and second, the original problem is written very ambiguously.

Let’s drill down into that first point.

PEMDAS! Parentheses, exponents, multiplication, division, addition, subtraction. Everyone’s taught to do operations in that order! Except that’s not really right. As a math teacher of mine put it, “it works for now, but you’ll find out I was lying in a few years.”

The problem is that multiplication and division are the same operation, and addition and subtraction are also the same operation. Division is really just multiplying by a fraction, and subtraction is just adding a negative. With that in mind, it doesn’t necessarily make sense to do some multiplication arbitrarily early in the problem before the rest! As a result, here’s the bottom line for that point:

Both 1 and 16 are right.

How can that be?

Well, that brings me to the second point: the expression is written very ambiguously, so as to maximize confusion! It’s also why I don’t like using the division symbol when a fraction will do just nicely.

Observe two other ways we could write this expression:

The first one resolves to 8/8, which is 1. The second resolves to 4(4), which is 16. Both are right, only because the original expression is vague.