pop quiz #230

whats 6/2(1+2)

is that (6/2)(1+2) or 6/(2(1+2))

where 2 : ℝ → ℝ

hmmmm apioforum latex support when

is that (6/2)(1+2) or 6/(2(1+2))

follow pemdas

pemdas (or bidmas or whatever you want to call it) doesn't provide an answer here, that's a common misconception. the question as it is stated is ambiguous.

and in any case, if it was written using actual notation and not weird asciified notation, it'd be either

 6
--- (1 + 2)
 2 

or

  6
------
2(1+2)

and there wouldn't be any ambiguity. the ambiguity comes from squishing the equation onto one line.

(i think)

huh

apioforum latex is a Good idea

I think the 2(1+2) is most accurately interpreted as 2*(1+2), in which case you evaluate it from left to right and get 9.

"evaluate it from left to right" is a misconception, that's what I'm saying.

re: latex, mathjax is a thing that i am soon going to be using for website latexing and it seems quite good if you want something client side

i do not want something client side (apioforum has 0 javascript whatsoever and i quite like this). i think the markdown library we're using has support for (serverside) latex which just needs to be enabled, but i will have to check.

you can use wikipedias api for rendering math stuff

use mathml, have no fallback for chrome users

extremely based

i am going to say 9. i think that 2(1+2) means 2*(1+2). the reason you get a different answer if you do

  6
------
2(1+2)

is that that notation effectively makes 2 implicit parentheses there. that is just a notation for (6)/(2+(1+2)) or something, in my opinion.

i vote 1. adding spaces 6 / 2(1 + 2), the 2(1 + 2) visually seems to read as a single unit. 6/2 (1 + 2) looks weird, concatenation usually does not space the factors apart (3x + 1 not 3 x + 1). this is not a rule written down anywhere but it seems intuitive to me

yeah, i feel like 6/2(1+2) is sort of like, intentionally ambiguous in a way? like, if you meant (6/2)*(1+2) then you'd write (6/2)(1+2) or 6/2 (1+2) or something, and if you meant 6/(2(1+2)) you'd write it 6/(2(1+2)) or 6 / 2(1+2) or

   6  
------
2(1+2)

etc. what i mean is that whichever of the two interpretations you intended, you would write it in a way that makes it obvious that that one is the one that you mean, but the form in the question has been written in a way that isn't obviously either one, which makes it seem somewhat artificial somehow, idk. wow that was a long sentence

sorry for the above post, i clicked the delete button instead of the edit button and then i clicked the delete button instead of the cancel button

the result is 5 ± 4.

troubling, perhaps ui/uxment should occur somewhat. i feel like the buttons might be the wrong way round but i am not sure

the result is the solution for x of x² - 10x + 9 = 0

x² + 10x + 9 is not a thing that has a solution, since you did not specify = 0 or anything else.

the result is the solution for x of x² - 10x + 9 ≠ 🐝

false

(x-1)(x-9) is the solution for x²-10x+9 if it's a factorization problem