Thousands of internet users have shared their answers, all of them convinced that they got the right answer. The debate became so heated that even mathematical experts were invited to express their opinions.
Why can such a short calculation be so divided? It all depends on the interpretation of the famous rule of the sequence of actions.
Understanding the Sequence of Operations
Rule The scuola,
The PENDAS rule (or BODMAS, depending on the country) often tells you the order in which you should perform the actions:
One key detail is often overlooked: multiplication and division follow the same sequence of operations. Therefore, they must be done from left to right.
It is precisely this point that changes everything in our equation.
Why do many people think that the answer is 16?
Let’s start by applying the rule step by step.
First, let’s solve the operation in parentheses
