2023-08-07 04:39 UTC
I want to note that everything I say here applies equally to the more common forms of this problem you'll see...
8/2(2+2) and
6/2(1+2)
I just tweaked it to have unique numbers, 8/2(1+3) to be clearer about which number I was referring to.
In the Term 2(1+3) 2 is known as the coefficient. With no multiply sign, it is 1 Term. If I wrote 2*(1+3), then that is now 2 Terms! Look what happens...
8/2(1+3)=8/(2+6)=8/8=1
8/2*(1+3)=8/2*4=4*4=16
Different number of Terms - different answer! ...
Replies (1)
-
@SmartmanApps@dotnet.social 2023-08-07 04:48
So this is why you MUST NOT arbitrarily add multiply signs to Terms (which a lot of people do!). If you do, you can change the answer. Single Terms are inseparable. A VERY common mistake is to say that 2(4)=2*4. No, it isn't! It's equal to (2*4). You CANNOT remove the brackets until there is only a single Term left inside them. i.e. 8. Also, because (2*4) is inside brackets, this is, as per earlier meme, part of "B" in BEDMAS, not "M" - there is no multiply sign outside brackets! More next week