Can you Solve this? 90% Of People Fail!

[00:00:00]Welcome back to Math Station. Today, we are tackling one of the most fiercely debated math problems on the internet. 6 / 2 * (1 + 2) So, which answer is correct? Is it option A, nine? Or is it option B, one? Take a moment to think it over.

[00:00:22]There is no rush, so feel free to pause the video if you would like to work it out yourself. Let's take a look at how most people naturally approach this.

[00:00:31]Often, the first instinct is to handle the numbers inside the parentheses, which is actually right. 1 + 2 = 3. So, our equation becomes 6 / 2 * 3.

[00:00:47]Here is where the trap springs. Many people see that two right next to the three and multiply them together first to get six.

[00:00:55]Then, 6 / 6 gives an answer of one.

[00:01:00]If you chose option B, you are in very good company. But unfortunately, that is not the right answer. To find the true solution, we have to rely on the order of operations. You might remember the old acronym PEMDAS. P stands for parentheses, E for exponents, M for multiplication, D for division, A for addition, and S for subtraction.

[00:01:26]This acts like a checklist. We use it to do the operation in the exact right order.

[00:01:33]Take this example, 2 + 3 / (1 + 2) This example is pretty close to our original expression.

[00:01:42]We look at the acronym. Among parentheses, addition, and division, it seems like parentheses comes first, right? So, before anything else, we should solve inside that parentheses. 1 + 2 is 3.

[00:01:56]Now, let's look at the acronym again.

[00:01:59]Does A come before D or is it the other way around?

[00:02:03]Division comes first, so let's divide three by three. It gives us one. Now, the only operation left to do is addition. 2 + 1 = 3.

[00:02:15]Let's look closely at our original expression.

[00:02:19]There's one thing we should get out in the open right now. In mathematics, when a number is sitting directly outside a parenthesis, like the two here, it implies multiplication.

[00:02:32]To make things perfectly clear, let's rewrite the equation and place that multiplication sign exactly where it belongs.

[00:02:40]Now we have 6 / 2 * (1 + 2).

[00:02:47]We look at the acronym PEMDAS to find out where our operations sit.

[00:02:52]We ask ourselves questions like, is the letter P, which stands for parenthesis, comes before or after multiplication?

[00:03:01]According to that, we find the right order.

[00:03:04]Here we see parenthesis, and the letter P actually comes before everything else.

[00:03:09]So, we must start there.

[00:03:11]Inside the parenthesis, we have 1 + 2, which equals 3. Now, our simplified equation is 6 / 2 * 3.

[00:03:23]This brings us to the critical step where so many people get stuck.

[00:03:27]We are left with division and multiplication.

[00:03:31]The trap here is that we sometimes think they have equal priority, so it doesn't matter whether we divide first or multiply.

[00:03:40]Or some people mistakenly think multiplication comes before division because of the order the letters M and D have in PEMDAS.

[00:03:50]They both are partially right.

[00:03:52]Here is the secret. In PEMDAS, multiplication and division actually share the exact same level of priority and we simply work our way from left to right just like reading a book.

[00:04:06]Since the division comes first on the left, we do 6 / 2 which gives us 3.

[00:04:13]Now we are left with a very straightforward final step. 3 * 3 = 9 and there is our correct answer.

[00:04:23]The solution is option A, 9.

[00:04:26]How did you do today? If you got it right on the first try, excellent job navigating those mathematical rules.

[00:04:34]If you got caught in the trap, please don't worry.

[00:04:38]These problems are specifically designed to be tricky and brushing up on these skills is great exercise for the mind.

[00:04:46]If you enjoyed this problem, please make sure to like the video and subscribe to Math Station. It helps the channel immensely.

[00:04:54]Thank you so much for watching and have a wonderful day.