The order of operations is, of course, PEMDAS,
Parenthesis,
Exponents
Multiplication and Division
Addition and Subtraction
But before students learn what exponents are, what does “E” stand for?
I seem to remember, long ago, before learning about exponents, “E” might have stood for something else but I cannot remember.
So what you learn the order of operations in 3rd of 4th grade (or whenever you learn it now-a-days) what do they tell the students “E” is....do they say it is exponents and leave it at that without an explanation, or do they substitute something else?
2007-03-15
13:16:31
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7 answers
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asked by
Anonymous
in
Education & Reference
➔ Primary & Secondary Education
I know “E” is for exponents.
I specifically remember first learning the concept of exponents in 6th grade, but I am almost certain that before 6th grade (probably 3rd or 4th) I had already been taught the order of operations.
So either the “E” was just ignored in those early years, stood for “excuse” without a mathematical meaning, or meant something else entirely.
2007-03-15
17:32:13 ·
update #1