[IYAS9YAS]

This is fun - I did a BING search on 48÷2(9+3) and then clicked images. It really makes you wonder what the algorithm is they used...

BING images for 48÷2(9+3): http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=48%c3%b72(9%2b3)&qpvt=48%c3%b72(9%2b3)&FORM=IGRE#x0y0

[SeaHawkFan]

Prior to calculators, any competent 4th-grader could easily solve this problem and the answer would be 2.

[RikaStrom]

RinaseaofDs: Multiplication before Division.
SoothingDave: You teacher wife needs to go back for a refresher. Multiplication and division have the same priority. http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Algebra/Order_of_Operations
Seahawkfan: it’s probably simpler to just insert the extra parentheses.
IYAS9YAS: This is fun - I did a BING search on 48÷2(9+3) and then clicked images. It really makes you wonder what the algorithm is they used... BING images for 48÷2(9+3): http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=48%c3%b72(9%2b3)&qpvt=48%c3%b72(9%2b3)&FORM=IGRE#x0y0

LOL, this has been a fun thread to watch and participate in.

So, let me throw another loop in, or rather, an observation:

In my office I have two admins, both 20. One is uber smart in mathematics and one is average, like me. The uber smart guy said straight up linear equation it equals 288, but the use of the (divide by symbol not the slash) made it appear as a fraction (nominator divided by denominator), he said the equation was "crap" because it wasn't defined clearly.

Now my other admin, she took one look at it and said 2. That they were still teaching in school that multiplication functions come before the division functions, so she had no idea that they were considered "equal weight" and to process from left to right. (This is in Houston, TX btw)

We all agreed that the use of one extra parenthesis would have made a HUGE difference.

So I did a google search at lunch because I wanted to see what else was being said about the equation... the hits were many and varied. So much fun to read through them. That being said, I can't argue the logic of the 288ers, but based on the way the equation was written in the title of the thread, and they way I was taught many years ago, my answer is still 2. Nominator divided by denominator, with a desperate need for one extra set of parenthesis.

:-)