Order of operations

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Order of operations

Who discovered it?

This math concept didn't get discovered by one person. Rather, it was slowly developing over the years. Some parts, like things in brackets or multiplication being first were generally agreed upon, but there were also several disputes like if division should be regarded as lesser or equal priority to multiplication.

Why was it created?

The order of operations was created so that there would only be one answer to every math problem. If everyone did the operations in a different order, then there would be lots of different answers and math would be very confusing.

What is it?

There are multiple acronyms made to help people remember the correct order. One of them is BEDMAS: Brackets Exponents Division Multiplication Addition Subtraction

The order of operations is a set of rules that tell you in which operations you should do first. The order is this: brackets, exponents, multiplication and division, addition and subtraction.

Example

Here is an example of the order of operations in use: 6³(8 - 5) + 8² ÷ 2 First, we solve the problems inside the brackets from left to right. So, 8 - 5 is 3. Then, we do the exponents from left to right. So, 6³ is 216 and 8² is 64. After, we do the multiplication and division from left to right. So, 216 • 3 is 648 and 64 ÷ 2 is 32. Lastly, we do the addition and subtraction from left to right. So, 648 + 32 is 680.

How is it used today?

This is one of the most important math concepts as it used a lot in math, science and computer programming. Without the order of operations, math today would be way more random and confusing.

Where was it discovered?

This concept was developing in a lot of different places in Europe. The first explicit appearance of the rule was in a book written in Dutch in 1838, and it was aimed at military engineers.

When was it discovered?

There's no specific time when it was discovered. It was slowly getting discovered over the centuries. It started to get mentioned quite a bit in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. But it started to get mentioned a lot in the nineteenth century in things like books.