• cmhe@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Those aren’t ‘rules of maths’, because math would work with other orders of operations as well. They are conventions. Other cultures could have different conventions and it would work as well.

    • Those aren’t ‘rules of maths’,

      Yes they are 😂

      because math would work with other orders of operations as well.

      There aren’t any “other” orders of operations.

      They are conventions

      Nope, rules of Maths

      Other cultures could have different conventions and it would work as well

      They do have other conventions, they do not have other rules. The rules of Maths are universal.

      • cmhe@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        In mathematics and computer programming, the order of operations is a collection of conventions about which arithmetic operations to perform first in order to evaluate a given mathematical expression.

        These conventions are formalized with a ranking of the operations. The rank of an operation is called its precedence, and an operation with a higher precedence is performed before operations with lower precedence. Calculators generally perform operations with the same precedence from left to right,[1] but some programming languages and calculators adopt different conventions.

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_operations

        With math, you can invent your own notation if you like. If it makes it easier to describe certain problem. This is done often. And if it makes sense, you can also change the order of operation. You can even introduce new operations.

        The notation you learn in school is just a common one, but other notations are equally valid and can be useful.

        Therefore this kind of question is not a pure math question, but rather it depends on what kind of conventions or notations people want to use.

        The context is what allows the math question to have a single answer. The notation is just your chosen way towards that solution and to communicate the steps to that solution to others.

        The rules of math itself are much more fundamental and they don’t care about how people decided to write formulas down.

        • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_operations

          isn’t a Maths textbook

          In mathematics and computer programming, the order of operations is a collection of conventions

          and rules 🙄 Haven’t even got past the first sentence you quoted and it’s already wrong

          These conventions

          Rules

          but some programming languages and calculators

          May disobey the rules and give wrong answers, like Texas Instruments calculators

          With math, you can invent your own notation if you like

          Yep, but you cannot invent your own rules 🙄

          This is done often.

          No it isn’t.

          And if it makes sense, you can also change the order of operation

          No you can’t, or you get wrong answers, like Texas Instruments calculators

          The notation you learn in school is just a common one, but other notations are equally valid and can be useful

          But the rules are universal. You seem to be confusing notation with the rules

          Therefore this kind of question is not a pure math question

          Yes it is

          what kind of conventions or notations people want to use

          We can see for ourselves quite clearly what notation they have used. There’s no mystery or debate about it

          The context is what allows the math question to have a single answer

          The rules of Maths is what gives it a single answer - that’s what they’re for! 😂

          The rules of math itself are much more fundamental and they don’t care about how people decided to write formulas down.

          Yep, one of which is The Distributive Law, a(b+c)=(ab+ac).