Ok, it's been taught to us in basic Algebra that you do multiplication and division first, then addition and subtraction (always left to right). My question is how did mathematicians come to this conclusion? I mean, who's to say that the math we've been doing could have been slightly incorrect?
A basic problem that is used as an example: What is 2+3*4? The answer is 14, but many people may say it's 20. Well why are we multiplying first? Is it because multiplying produces more than addition?
I'm just curious, because if the order were switched the other way, we'd really have a lot of equations to adjust.
2006-07-09
17:14:59
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15 answers
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asked by
gallostravels
1