The maths equation that is dividing the internet
Accountants assemble. A maths problem has gone viral.
A simple maths equation has been dividing the internet and as of this morning, has already started a few disagreements in our office.
8 ÷ 2(2+2) = ?
The equation in question was tweeted by @pjmdolI a few days ago and so far has thousands of replies and retweets.
Even mathematics experts are wading in - why? Because people are coming out with two different answers: 1 and 16.
oomfies solve this pic.twitter.com/0RO5zTJjKk
— ❦ (@pjmdolI) July 28, 2019
The answer depends on whether you perform the multiplication or division first.
In short, whether you use the PEMDAS or BODMAS method.
People who believe the answer is 1 are working out all of the brackets stuff first.
So you '2 + 2' first, which simplifies it to '8 ÷ 2(4)'. You then still have brackets so you have to do '2 x 4' before continuing on. This gives you '8 ÷ 8' which equals 1.
However, those who think it’s 16 believe that when you simplify it to '8 ÷ 2(4)', you do '8 ÷ 2' first because you move left to right. This gives you 4(4) which equals 16.
