explain why you can't use it when it is there.

 

I said 2 and agree with jeffjones and the methods he has mentioned

 

i thought it was 2 from the start and still do but......
what does dear old dad have to say on the issue?

 

but if i use your previous method i get:

(4 * x / 2 * x) which is: 2x²

 

I have a socket set in my tool box. Why can't I use the 14mm socket on a 12mm fastener? It's there isn't it?

Because it doesn't fit and it does not work! Sure I could try to use it. Is it going to work right? Hell no!

 

jeffjones: ill break this down for you

when you put the 48 over 2(9+3) your changing the problem, because then you evaluate the entire top an entire bottom before dividing, however when you write a division symbol you are just dividing the 2 number adjacent to it.

This is what confuses everyone, as usually you can split the problem into top an bottom, but in this problem it affects the answer, thus the confusion


Also i have 4 years of university math, calculus I,II,III differential equations, probability, plus all my engineering course, blah blah blah i have met the biggest dumbasses in college an you can pass all that stuff doesnt mean anything if you dont know how to apply it

 

jeff you missed the memo or were sleeping in class

the * is not required to explicitly show that multiplication is being asked. The parentheses tells you. This is basic high school algebra.

Order of Operations:
Rule 1: First perform any calculations inside parentheses.
Rule 2: Next perform all multiplications and divisions, working from left to right.
Rule 3: Lastly, perform all additions and subtractions, working from left to right.

Keep it simple; yes, you can use distributive property to answer the question (I posted it twice for you) but you keep violating the OoM while using it so I think it is confusing you.

The OoM says that you must first attend to calculations within parentheses. Therefore, we first add 9 + 3 and get (12):
(9+3) = (12)

This leaves us with
48 ÷ 2(12)

As you can see, there are two different computation symbols in play. First, we have the division sign that looks like this: ÷
Next, we have a multiplication calculation between the 2 and the (12), implied by the parentheses.

The 2nd rule of OoM states that multiplication and division are of equal "rank" and the order is dictated by going from left to right. Thus, since the division is on the far left and the multiplication is on the far right...you divide 48 by 2 first, and then you multiply the answer by 12.

How can you multiply 2(12) first, when there is clearly a division computation in front of it (48 ÷ 2)?! Are you really not seeing this?

There is no difference between these equations! ----> 48/2(9+3)=48/2*(3+9)

Either way you are getting 288

 

Touche

 

this problem is 2(x)^2 as i mentioned in my last post, in most problems when you see a division sign you can change the problem to top/bottom but in some problems if affects the problem,

so here we have 4*x/2*x so its 4x/2 = 2x*x so 2(x)^2

 

Maybe you were asleep in Basic high school algebra.


Distributive property
The distributive property comes into play when an expression involves both addition and multiplication. A longer name for it is, "the distributive property of multiplication over addition." It tells us that if a term is multiplied by terms in parenthesis, we need to "distribute" the multiplication over all the terms inside.