What places the multiplication above the division in precedence? According to the rules of precedence I learned, as well as all those I have been able to find online, they are equal and are processed left-to-right?
That is the crux of the discussion here, of course.
Fun, isn’t it?
Nothing places multiplication above division, but 2(9+3) is not the same as 2*(9+3). Alone, the answer is the same, but used in an equation, they are not the same thing.
Individually, the result is 24 either way, but when used in an equation, adding the “*” sign between the 2 and the parenthesis lowers the priority to the equivalent of the division process, which produces a different (and algebraically incorrect) answer.