6÷2(3)

[antonkr]

Quite simple, or is it?

 

6÷2(3)

[AliasTheory]

Why I always use parenthesis in fractions when doing engineering calculations.

[Tidus44]

Jeeze, not this silliness again.

 

Six divided by two multiplied by three.

Because the equation uses a "divided by" (÷) symbol and not a "/" which can be either "divided by" or a fraction, there is no ambiguity to what the equation is.

The three is already in its simplest form so the parenthesis is irrelevant to the equation. Think of it as (6)÷(2)(3).

 

The answer is 9. Six divided by two equals three. Three multiplied by three is nine.

 

Changing the equation to a fraction;

6÷2(3) thus 3/(3)=1 is incorrect.

 

If the answer were to be 1 it would need to be written 6÷[2(3)].

 

While I am also an engineer, I know this because I passed grade 6 math.

 

Teachers always play little tricks in math questions to see if students follow the rules. I recall a mod for Oblivion where to get past a door one had to solve the equation 20 multiplied by 20 divided by half. The mod forum was full of people desperately trying to get through the door and unable to figure out the answer. The reason, they used a calculator (OMG). The correct answer is ?? I'll leave that one up to someone else to answer because many, many got it wrong.

[AliasTheory]

That's not my point. My point is that people can easily misinterpret this, even if I know this to be correct. If I'm writing something that someone else will eventually review, then I should be as explicit as possible to avoid any sort of confusion. Hence why this is even something controversial.

[Vagrant0]

AliasTheory, on 14 Feb 2013 - 15:03, said:

That's not my point. My point is that people can easily misinterpret this, even if I know this to be correct. If I'm writing something that someone else will eventually review, then I should be as explicit as possible to avoid any sort of confusion. Hence why this is even something controversial.

Then those people aren't doing things in the correct order of operations and need to go back to elementry school. It is however one of those sorts of things that are bound to show up on a math placement test since it tells if people do know the correct order of operations or not.

[kvnchrist]

I'm just wondering if this shouldn't be posted in the off topic section. Just a thought.

[colourwheel]

antonkr, on 13 Feb 2013 - 22:38, said:

Quite simple, or is it?

 

6÷2(3)

It's actually too simple.

 

It's not like Thevenin's theorem or even Ohm's law. Yet it's suprising how many people can't manipulate the formula to I=current R=resistance and V=voltage to solve for one missing element to an equation where V = R x I

Edited February 14, 2013 by colourwheel

[Ihoe]

And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD: And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but...

@Tidus
I don't understand your predicament, from what I remember, Under modern day standard, the / and ÷ are used interchangeably as division. This is probably due to the increase in computer programming. Because of this the / sign has lost it's meaning of fraction when written in horizontal form and more assumed to be division. buuuut since the original problem used the ÷ and not the / sign, it probably should be assumed that it is not actually a fraction.

 

Counter-Thesis (!) (put in quotation marks for the sake of clarity)

 

let's prove the initial equation:

6/6 = 1
6/(4+2) = 1
6/2(2+1) = 1

6/2(3) = 1

the same can be done for other factors:

6/6 = 1
6/(3+3) = 1
6/3(1+1) = 1

Distribution is actually a part of "Simplifying Equations" and is not bound to the order of operations as "multiplication", since it is in fact "removing parentheses by distributing". This can be googled and several references found. Simplifying 2(2+1) + 3(2+1) = 5(2+1). We "combined like terms" here, by adding, and did not perform the "parntheses" part of order of operations, nor did we multiply, which is also higher priority than adding, because we only simplified.

 

Division must be proven with Multiplication in reverse:

6 ÷ 2n = 3/n

3/n * 2n = 6
6 ÷ 2n = 3n ?? 3n * 2n = 6n^2
6n ÷ 2n =
(n+n+n+n+n+n) ÷ (n+n) =
[(n+n) (n+n) (n+n)] ÷ (n+n) =
3(n+n) ÷ (n+n) = 3
6n ÷ 2n = 6n ÷ (2n) = 3
obelus is a grouping symbol in itself.
Let n = 3.

 

Ans: 1

 

there are more "9" answers since most people simply know PEMDAS and don't remember distributive property nor how to properly eliminate parentheses and the like. It is like asking grade 2 students what is the answer to 2+1*2. "Most" if not all will say 6, but this isn't a "majority wins" contest. Parentheses are a "grouping" symbol, and the question is read aloud as "What is 6 divided by 2 groups of 3". if you were to follow PEMDAS exactly, 1a/1a = a^2; just like 6 ÷ 3x = 2x. But just like calculators, the order of operations doesn't think logically and we as humans can see that the intent of the 1a/1a is supposed to be (1a)/(1a) = 1.

 

the answer should just be 42 since it's the answer to the meaning of life, the universe, and everything.

 

Edited February 14, 2013 by Ihoe

[Tidus44]

Ihoe - I am not sure where you copy and pasted the counter thesis "quote" from, but it has errors and misinformation and its just way, way too much to explain in a forum..

 

Math has rules and if not followed the answer is wrong - its just that simple. If you do not believe me, than please feel free not to. If you want to know, then my suggestion is go see a grade 5 or 6 teacher and they can explain it all and answer any questions you may have - it'll be a lot simpler and easier than debating here in a forum.

 

Really, you should not believe me because I'm somewhat insane. I'm a structural engineer and a fire protection engineer and I investigate structural collapse and fires to determine why they occur and why they cause the damage they do when a failure occurs. Most of what I investigate is found to be the result of faulty calculations and findings get published so engineers and designers can avoid making the same errors and thus prevent any collapses or devastating fires from occurring and thus eliminate the disasters I investigate.

 

Why would you believe someone who works to eliminate their job? Gotta be crazy right?

 

Anyway, 42 isn't the right answer, and it isn't the meaning of life, the universe and everything. 46 is (Deep Thought forgot to carry the one early on in the calculation). Each diploid cell in the human body consists of 46 strands of DNA. All humanity is is a means to store DNA and ensure it continues until someone can create a better human. It is the meaning of life.

 

Doug Adams' book "42: The answer to life, the universe and everything" identifies how 42 was determined. His research consisted of the same thing government does. He wrote down numbers until he found one that looked good.

[Ihoe]

Ihoe - I am not sure where you copy and pasted the counter thesis "quote" from, but it has errors and misinformation and its just way, way too much to explain in a forum..

 

Math has rules and if not followed the answer is wrong - its just that simple. If you do not believe me, than please feel free not to. If you want to know, then my suggestion is go see a grade 5 or 6 teacher and they can explain it all and answer any questions you may have - it'll be a lot simpler and easier than debating here in a forum.

 

Really, you should not believe me because I'm somewhat insane. I'm a structural engineer and a fire protection engineer and I investigate structural collapse and fires to determine why they occur and why they cause the damage they do when a failure occurs. Most of what I investigate is found to be the result of faulty calculations and findings get published so engineers and designers can avoid making the same errors and thus prevent any collapses or devastating fires from occurring and thus eliminate the disasters I investigate.

 

Why would you believe someone who works to eliminate their job? Gotta be crazy right?

 

Anyway, 42 isn't the right answer, and it isn't the meaning of life, the universe and everything. 46 is (Deep Thought forgot to carry the one early on in the calculation). Each diploid cell in the human body consists of 46 strands of DNA. All humanity is is a means to store DNA and ensure it continues until someone can create a better human. It is the meaning of life.

 

Doug Adams' book "42: The answer to life, the universe and everything" identifies how 42 was determined. His research consisted of the same thing government does. He wrote down numbers until he found one that looked good.

 

Don't worry I don't believe you at all.

 

You should check again. oh and see above as to why the rules of 50 years ago were broken in today's math...

plus an intellectually formed response is more acceptable. ;) you may be an engineer, I qualified twice for the national Mathematics and Informatics Olympiads and topped my calculus class in HS. (believe it or not) what you're saying is a polite form of "It's 9 cuz I'm right and you're wrong cuz I don't wanna explain". any answer should be verified with common sense and accuracy should also be verified. oh and copy paste? (FacePalm) do you even remember High School? every darned proof is a copy paste. :dry:

 

but I don't want to push this matter of Imbecile flaming/pissing contest of Who-thinks-is-a-more-educated-nutjob to the edges, and I know an educated engineer wouldn't agree more.

 

42 is the answer to life. a number with no hidden meaning, Meaning nothing. because Life, doesn't mean a damn thing. :P

 

P.S. rant

Why is the debates forum becoming less filled with intelligently formed responses and more with self-approved highly esteemed blabber gibberish of low level serious satirical attitudes? are all good men gone? :blink: (no offence to anyone, jus' speaking in figures...)