What is...?

Question

What is 2+2x2?

This is a survey to see what answers people come up with. In my school, the majority came up with two different answers. I want to see if the same thing happens here. I'm trying to find out what answer will come up the most. Thanks for your time!

Answer 1

6. It's the order of operations (Parentheses Exponents Multiplication Division Addition Subtraction). If the problem has any brackets or parentheses, you solve what is inside them first. If there are any exponents, you do them next. Then you do multiplication and division in order from left to right. Finally, you do addition and subtraction from left to right. You are supposed to do multiplcation before addition.

Therefore, 2x2= 4, 4+2= 6. The other common answer is most likely 8, because 2+2=4, 4x2=8. This is incorrect because you are supposed to follow the order of operations (PEMDAS) no matter what order the problem is written in.

Note: the answer above mine is incorrect, because you are still supposed to multiply before adding, unless there are parentheses around the addition problem. Notice the order of PEMDAS, multiplication comes BEFORE addition. It does NOT depend on how it is read, that is the whole reason we have order of operations in the first place! That is the rule, follow it.

In math, there is only one correct answer. It isn't the one that people come up with most often. There's no room for opinions.

Answer 2

6

Answer 3

Given how you wrote it, without any parentheses,
6 is right, and 8 is wrong.

Unless parentheses are inserted otherwise,
the multiplication is performed before the addition.

So your expression is the same as
2 + (2 x 2) =
2 + 4 =
6

In order for the answer to be 8,
parentheses are REQUIRED.
You would have to write it as
(2+2) x 2 =
4 x 2 =
8

Without the parentheses, the correct answer is 6.
The answers that said 8 are wrong.

Answer 4

You left out the brackets which would tell us what you actually meant, but then again, I suspect that that WAS what you intended to find out which conclusion most people would come to Clever!
Will the answer be 8, or 6 or a lemon? I'll keep an eye on this one

Answer 5

2+2=4 x 2 = 8
or
2 + 2x2 = 6

Your choice ... depends on how you read it.

Answer 6

6 because you always do multiplication and division first by what order they come in, addition and subtraction are last.
P. E. M. D. A. S. (paranthesis, exponents, multiplication and division, additon and subtraction.) (Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally)

Answer 7

8 since there are no parenthesis around the 2x2

Answer 8

6, didnt you ever hear of Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally? It is a good way to remember parhentases, then exponents, then multiplication, then division, then addition, then subtraction