The internet loves a good mystery, and sometimes it involves math! Just like that infamous blue and black dress that had everyone debating, there’s a viral math problem that got people scratching their heads.
In 2019, a Twitter user posted a photo with a math problem: 8 ÷ 2(2 + 2). The question caused a full-blown debate not only on Twitter but across social media platforms. Even editors at Popular Mechanics, a lifestyle magazine, couldn’t agree on the answer.
The disagreement came down to interpreting the order of operations, which is commonly remembered as “PEMDAS” (Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, and Subtraction). The editors had differing opinions on how to solve the problem using this rule.
One editor argued that the calculation should be done from left to right, following the order of operations. So, they solved the parentheses first, which gave the value of 2. Then, they tackled the division first before the multiplication. This approach resulted in an answer of 16.
The other group of editors had a different interpretation of the order of operations. They treated the 2 + 2 as if it were inside a separate set of parentheses, leading to a different answer. For them, the correct answer was 1.
The debate quickly spilled over to the internet, attracting the attention of mathematicians and scientists. The American Mathematical Society Public Awareness Office sided with the first group of editors, stating that 16 is the correct answer based on the order of operations. However, they acknowledged that the way the problem was written was “ambiguous.”
Physics Professor Rhett Allain from Southeastern Louisiana University weighed in on the debate, noting that there are different conventions for writing math problems. He suggested that the problem should have been written as 8/(2*(2+2)), which would result in an answer of 1.
In the end, this controversy reminds us that mathematics can sometimes be open to interpretation. Different approaches can lead to different answers, and conventions can vary. So, the next time you come across a math problem causing a stir, remember that the journey to finding the answer can be just as intriguing as the solution itself.
