this post was submitted on 03 Dec 2023
418 points (100.0% liked)

196

16557 readers
1876 users here now

Be sure to follow the rule before you head out.

Rule: You must post before you leave.

^other^ ^rules^

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] Zagorath@aussie.zone 16 points 11 months ago

Ultimately it's ambiguous and bad. But most mathematicians (at a level higher than primary school education) use multiplication by juxtaposition—aka implicit multiplication—at a higher priority than division. BIDMAS, as you might have been taught in primary school, is an oversimplification that doesn't even account for the possibility of juxtaposition, because you didn't learn about that until secondary school.

Most mathematicians would use logic that lets you arrive at the answer of "1", while also saying it should have been written better. Brackets are cheap. Use them!