• rapchee@lemmy.world
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    22 hours ago

    would you say the same thing if the division was written out like a line under 2(3) and under that 6
    idk how this’ll come out but something like this:
    2(1+2)
    -----------
    6

    edit : wow i did a formatting thing
    edit2: i got it (ish)

    • AHemlocksLie@lemmy.zip
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      20 hours ago

      In that case, I’d say the answer is 1. Top and bottom are each resolved to the fullest extent possible before dividing top by bottom. It’s equivalent to (top)÷(bottom), but it’s clearer and preferable if you can easily format that way in my opinion, just harder on a computer.

    • Reyali@lemmy.world
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      22 hours ago

      I think that’s why people are complaining about the division sign.

      It’s been decades since I took a math class so I am definitely not the right person to explain things, but I am using technology to confirm my understanding of the various notations:

      So yeah, if you put 6 over a denominator of 2(1+2), the answer is different (1) because the equation is different. But if you write it out literally, it would be 6 over 2 times (1+2).

      What you wrote swapped the denominator to make it 2(1+2)÷6, which will always be 1.