[Renkluaf]

Cool.

[Democrats hate too much]

I say 16.

[VTenigma]

16

[z3n]

8÷2(2+2)
8÷2(4)
8÷8
1

[cincinnati65]

I’ll argue for 1. Parentheses first, then multiplication, then division.

[nuconvert]

PEMDAS (order of operations)
1.Parentheses
2.Exponents
3.Multiplication and Division (from left to right)
4.Addition and Subtraction (from left to right)

[Gay State Conservative]

16

[j_guru]

Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally

[Big Red Badger]

“Potato Salad!”

[Carriage Hill]

16. Got it first time.

[RoosterRedux]

1

[buffyt]

16

[HandBasketHell]

The answer is 16 and there is nothing ambiguous about it.

Put it into any calculator the way it is presented here, and it'll give the answer of 16.

The rules to do this are called Order of Operations. The following take precedence in the order they are given:

1. Parentheses

2. Exponents (i.e. powers and roots)

3. Multiply and Divide (equal precedence, apply as they occur from left to right)

4. Addition and Subtraction (equal precedence, apply as they occur from left to right.

The anagram PEMDAS is often used to remember these rules.

So for 8/2(2+2)

You must do (2+2) first.

Now it becomes 8/2(4), which is the same as 8/2x4

All that remains now is multiplication and division, which have equal precedence and you apply left to right as they occur:

So 8/2 is 4.

Thus 8/2x4 becomes 4x4, which is then 16.

Note that 8/2x4 is NOT 8/8. That only happens if you have 8/(2x4). Without the parentheses, you must do 8/2 first, which is 4, and then multiply 4 by 4.

[richardtavor]

it equals Global Warming.

[golux]

Clearly the “problem” has nothing to do with numbers and everything to do with a carbon-spewing white supremacist capitalist system infused by Bush / Trump’s zionist chauvinist womb-invading global terrorists with western symbols and sequences that are designed to confuse and wreak havoc on women, people of color, and struggling minorities but of course not asians. Until there is a revolution, until there is justice, there can be NO PEACE. And THAT, my friends, is the answer.

[HartleyMBaldwin]

The ambiguity is due to the misuse of parentheses.

(8/2)(2+2)=16, or 8/(2(2+2))=1

[GnuThere]

I came up with Cofefe.

[BitWielder1]

Add parentheses and a * to clarify the precedence rules. 8÷2(2+2) = (8÷2)*(2+2) = (4)*(4) = 16
There are other rules that give different results but those are no longer in use.
Well explained here: What Is 8÷2(2+2) = ? The Correct Answer Explained

[kosciusko51]

The answer is 16. The real answer is the question is poorly written.

[SolidRedState]

42 ;)

[fruser1]

Based on programming rules it’d be 16 from operator precedence.

However, when writing equations in textbooks I notice there is minimization of divisor signs for clarity.

E.g. if I want to say that a times b, is divided by c times d I would write

ab / cd

not

a / c * b / d

Which is the same in terms of operator precedence.

Of course if you’re teaching fractions in grade school you’d use the second as an example.