The Evangelical Universalist Forum

Article in New York Times Wrong About Math Problem

Wrong!

In order to get 16, the expression would have to be (8÷2)(2+2).

But 8÷2(2+2) does not contain that initial parentheses. In that case, the multiplication before the parentheses takes precedence in the order of operations over the division sign. Thus:

8÷2(2+2)=
8÷2(4)=
8÷8=
1

A math fallacy!

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