Anonymous at Wed, 12 Mar 2025, 13:11:14 GMT No. 16616827 Report

It isn't really a rule but a convention.

Anonymous at Wed, 12 Mar 2025, 14:44:18 GMT No. 16616872 Report

>>16616811
Because multiplication and division fundamentally are just repeated addition and subtraction respectively, done in bulk. Doing the heavy lifting first is just more convenient and intuitive.

By all means you can change the order of operations in any problem you're solving as long as you write a comment about doing it.

Anonymous at Wed, 12 Mar 2025, 14:56:32 GMT No. 16616884 Report

>>16616811
>I am allergic to parentheses
Take a Benadryl.

Anonymous at Wed, 12 Mar 2025, 15:41:25 GMT No. 16616908 Report

1st: + and –
2nd: × and ÷
3rd: ^ and root extraction
4th: ? and its inverse

Anonymous at Wed, 12 Mar 2025, 15:56:08 GMT No. 16616916 Report

>>16616811
I don't know, why have grammar? Why have definitions? Why have any set of rules that are all just related to symbols of the natural world.

The problem with changing it now is that all the most advanced math is based on these older rules. So if you change shit now, you need to go back and change all the math mankind has ever created. Teaching kids wrong is just fucking stupid, because if they want to take it further they have to learn the old rules. Same for cursive. If they want to read anything written that's older than they are then they need to learn it as well.

Anonymous at Wed, 12 Mar 2025, 17:57:13 GMT No. 16617015 Report

>>16616811
Because it makes writing things out easier, multiplication has higher impact on the result so it takes mental priority. You can write any equation in any way you like, math is made up just state your axioms and conventions and it's all legit.

Anonymous at Thu, 13 Mar 2025, 01:21:29 GMT No. 16617381 Report

>>16616827
>>16616872
>>16616916
>>16617015
What does that even mean? How can multiplication be a convention and not a rule? What does the fact that multiplication has mental impact have anything to do with math and not, idk, psychology
>>16616908
Tetration

Anonymous at Thu, 13 Mar 2025, 04:35:21 GMT No. 16617529 Report

>>16616811
Yes, it can be the other way around. It's just a convention so people can communicate what they mean easier.

Anonymous at Thu, 13 Mar 2025, 05:06:26 GMT No. 16617552 Report

>>16617381
PEMDAS is not a "rule" in the sense that you could have well defined mathematical statements which have a different order of operations.

We use PEMDAS so that there is less ambiguity on how to properly handle expressions like:
$f(x)=5(x+3{)}^2+2$

Someone could intend to have this expression be evaluated in another order, but the convention we use follows: y = x+3 -> z = y^2 -> g = 5z -> p = g+2.

You could have a mathematically consistent order of operations that is different, but then you'd need to write that expression differently to have the same meaning.

Anonymous at Thu, 13 Mar 2025, 07:58:50 GMT No. 16617625 Report

>>16617381
>What does the fact that multiplication has mental impact have anything to do with math and not, idk, psychology
Calculation is not a psychological diagnosis, it is a mathematical process.

Anonymous at Thu, 13 Mar 2025, 08:22:38 GMT No. 16617640 Report

>>16617381
5 * 4 + 2

can be either

(5 * 4) + 2

or

5 * (4 + 2)

the order in which operations are performed is a convention. it doesn't say anything about the nature operations themselves.

however, there's something called distributive law which says that

a * (b + c) = (a * b) + (a * c)

and it's because of this law the CONVENTION to evaluate multiplication first is more practical. but it's still just a convention.

Anonymous at Thu, 13 Mar 2025, 11:10:40 GMT No. 16617734 Report

>>16617529
>>16617552
>>16617640
Wait, so you're telling me that there's a system of math that has the opposite, addition before multiplication? In the 5*4+2 example, 40 is a valid solution? But we know 4*5 is the same as 5*4 which also gives 40 wtf
This is blowing my mind. I thought multiplication having a higher priority than addition was a universal rule and it turns out it's just convention

Anonymous at Fri, 14 Mar 2025, 14:24:26 GMT No. 16618732 Report

>>16616811
Just a convention for saving () while writing a*x^2+b*x+c, at a small cost to a*(x+m)*(x+n)+b*(x+l)+c
And clearly things with left right directionality to them, such as - / ^ has to be use only when necessary

Anonymous at Sat, 15 Mar 2025, 01:17:30 GMT No. 16619406 Report

>>16617734
>there's a system of math
i mean, you could prioritize addition over multiplication any day just by always putting parentheses around sums...

Anonymous at Sat, 15 Mar 2025, 03:03:04 GMT No. 16619461 Report

>>16617734
As this anon said >>16619406 you could do whatever you'd need to by rewriting a similar mathematical statement to reflect your order of operations priority.

You'd just use nested parentheses and composition of functions and you could have it go in any order you'd wish. PEMDAS is just about trying to write less ambiguous statements so people know the order in which they are expected to simplify.

Anonymous at Sat, 15 Mar 2025, 10:51:34 GMT No. 16619629 Report

>>16616811
it's just a different way to write addition

Anonymous at Sat, 15 Mar 2025, 11:12:39 GMT No. 16619645 Report

>>16616811
Everything about maths can be explained by cutting cakes or arranging fruits.
A picture is worth a thousand words and maths is just the language in which god wrote the world.

Anonymous at Sun, 16 Mar 2025, 04:21:32 GMT No. 16620382 Report

>>16619406
No that's the easy part, I understand that
What I don't understand that when parentheses aren't there, why does multiplication take priority when there's no physical reason for it to be so