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Everyday maths 2
Everyday maths 2

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8 Formulas

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Figure 20 Formulas

Before diving in to this topic, you first need to learn about the order in which you need to carry out operations. Have you ever seen a question like the one below posted on social media?

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Figure 21 A calculation using the four operations

There are usually a wide variety of answers given by various people. But how is it possible that such a simple calculation could cause so much confusion? It’s all to do with the order in which you carry out the calculations.

  • If you go from left to right:
    • 7 + 7 = 14
    • 14 ÷ 7 = 2
    • 2 + 7 = 9
    • 9 × 7 = 63
    • 63 − 7 = 56

The correct answer however, is actually 50. How do you arrive at this answer? You have to use the correct order of operations, sometimes called BIDMAS.