Bomdas

TheBazman · 09-01-2008 11:57am #1

Right apparently on "Are you Smarter than a 10yr old" this was asked

5+3*0 = ?

To which the correct answer was 0 (presumably on the basis that anything multiplied by 0 = 0)

However a lot of people are now referring to BOMDAS which would suggest that multiplication takes precedent therefore giving an answer of 5.

So which is it in your view?

Tails142 · 09-01-2008 12:01pm

Yes, multiplication does take precedent, 5+(3*0)=5

3*0 = 0

0 + 5 = 5

QED

newbusiness · 09-01-2008 12:02pm

http://www.google.com/search?q=5%2B3*0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

It's 5 according to my own calculations and Google Maths

Thomas_S_Hunterson · 09-01-2008 12:47pm

Most certainly 5, but would ~4th class maths have taught about precendence?

TheBazman · 09-01-2008 1:57pm

Cheers I think it is definitely clear cut if there are brackets - I was unsure when there weren't any.

Either way looks like the researchers on the programme got it wrong

Pherekydes · 09-01-2008 2:46pm

TheBazman wrote: »

Either way looks like the researchers on the programme got it wrong

That's coz they're stupider than a 10-year old.

ramanujan · 14-01-2008 6:32pm

haha hilarious

16-01-2008 9:45pm

If I remember correctly the actual contestant said the answer was 15.

We all must be wrong so. Darn.....

moggins7 · 16-01-2008 10:13pm

yeah i was watchin this, she did say 15...

i had an arguement with someone that the answer should have been 5 but they wouldn belive me...
there really should have been brackets.

LeixlipRed · 16-01-2008 10:45pm

15?? Holy crap

moggins7 · 16-01-2008 10:56pm

yeah and the funniest thing was that she was so certain that it was right!!!!:D:D

LeixlipRed · 16-01-2008 11:21pm

that simply doesn't make sense!! how could you survive in lfe not knowing the difference between addition and multiplication??? Is the clip on youtube?

crisco10 · 17-01-2008 3:51pm

Sean_K wrote: »

Most certainly 5, but would ~4th class maths have taught about precendence?

yup, i remember being taught BOMDAS in 4th/5th class....

spacetweek · 29-01-2008 12:34pm

This one is tough to call.

15 is defo wrong, so the only valid answers are:

0 (left to right order)
5 (Bomdas / computer solve order)

As I'm an IT head, I wouldn't even consider using L-R order, so I would have answered 5, though the quiz makers are probably intending you to use L-R because it's more conventional.

Brackets would have solved this prob.

Jay P · 16-02-2008 1:57pm

Is it not BEMDAS? Brackets Exponents Multiplication Division Addition Subtraction.

I remember being taught in 6th class that it was BOMDAS, with the O standing for order, but that was quickly dismissed in secondary school. And if it is BOMDAS, order doesn't make much sense to me.

Thomas_S_Hunterson · 16-02-2008 1:59pm

In primary school, I was told the O standed for "of" as in "to the power of"

MathsManiac · 16-02-2008 6:03pm

I've heard different people give different meanings fo the "O". Some say it's "of" as in fractions ("half of", etc), meaning it's just multiplication in another guise. Others say "over", meaning that brackets take precedence "over", etc..., others think "over" as in division.

When I was a teacher, I avoided mentioning this rule anyway, as some students incorrectly take it to mean that, for example, multiplication takes precedence over division, and that addition takes precedence over subtraction. I don't recall anyone having difficulty with simply remembering that multiplication and division take precedence over addition and subtraction. It's pretty obvious that brackets over-rule this (since otherwise there wouldn't be much point in having them!)

breadmonkey · 17-02-2008 7:11pm

Definitely 5.

And lol @ Jay_P's BEMBAS rule!

Colonel Sanders · 19-02-2008 12:02pm

5 is surely the answer. If the answer was 0 then someone has left out their brackets, which wouldn't be the contestants fault

gondorff · 21-02-2008 11:12pm

It's 5. With or without brackets.

I blame the spice girls for this whole sorry mess.

seandoiler · 22-02-2008 11:55am

gondorff wrote: »

It's 5. With or without brackets.

I blame the spice girls for this whole sorry mess.

well you can blame them for you being wrong so as well...the brackets are vital here cos for example if they put them in somewhere in the question you get different answers
(5+3)*0=0
5+(3*0)=5

now if it is written without brackets, the answer is clearly 5 though.

gondorff · 22-02-2008 3:30pm

seandoiler wrote: »

well you can blame them for you being wrong so as well...the brackets are vital here cos for example if they put them in somewhere in the question you get different answers
(5+3)*0=0
5+(3*0)=5

now if it is written without brackets, the answer is clearly 5 though.

Yeah? Well obviously I meant with the brackets in your second example or without them.
Some people here are saying you need the brackets in the second example. You don't.

Jay P · 22-02-2008 10:51pm

breadmonkey wrote: »

Definitely 5.

And lol @ Jay_P's BEMBAS rule!

What's so funny about my BEMDAS rule?

callaway92 · 04-03-2008 9:53pm

So what happened with this all..She didnt complain or atin no...maybe shes to stupaaader then a 10 year old

gondorff · 05-03-2008 2:31am

callaway92 wrote: »

So what happened with this all..She didnt complain or atin no...maybe shes to stupaaader then a 10 year old

Which, translated from the Sanskrit, literally means...

Pherekydes · 05-03-2008 7:34am

callaway92 wrote: »

So what happened with this all..She didnt complain or atin no...maybe shes to stupaaader then a 10 year old

"So, what happened with all this? Didn't she complain or anything at all? Maybe she is stupider than a ten year old."

Nope, I don't think she complained. She probably hadn't a clue they were wrong.

Bomdas

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