TL;DR – The answer is not 1.
A seemingly-easy mathematics equation has gotten the Internet quite confused:
6 ÷ 2 (1+2) =
And if your answer to the above is 0, 1, 3, or 6, you aren’t alone.
But you aren’t right either.
The answer is actually 9.
Why?
Do you remember BODMAS from your school days? If not, here’s a quick refresher. The acronym stands for:
Brackets
Orders
Division-Multiplication
Addition-Subtraction
Otherwise known as “order of operations”, it explains the steps you need to take when breaking down an equation.
Therefore, to solve this equation,
First, you need to solve the problem inside the brackets. In this case, it is “1+2,” which yields “3.”
This changes the equation to “6 ÷ 2 (3).”
Next, you need to convert the “2 (3)” into “2 x 3,” because the “Exponents/Orders” part of BODMAS demands that you remove the brackets, leaving behind an order.
In this case, the order is multiplication.
Next, you need to move onto the “Division-Multiplication” part of the acronym.
In the equation “6 ÷ 2 x 3,” you need to carry out both.
A key rule to remember here: If you need to carry out both types of operation when solving an equation, you need to move left to right.
Therefore, you first need to address “6 ÷ 2,” which equals 3. This yields “3 x 3,” which equals 9.
QED.
