College Mathematics - BEDMAS vs. PEMDAS??

[jessikalauren]

I'm studying for College Mathematics thru InstantCert - and it says I should use BEDMAS for the order of operations?

I've always used PEMDAS (including last semester on campus taking beginning algebra) which of course reverses the multiply/divide and I could get every question wrong if I use the wrong one.

Could someone kindly confirm which is used on the CLEP exam??

[jsd]

For both PEMDAS and BEDMAS the M/D are interchangeable; you do the one that comes first (reading from left to right), just as you do with grouping addition and subtraction together.

Info from wikipedia, relevant part bolded:

Mnemonics are often used to help students remember the rules, but the rules taught by the use of acronyms can be misleading. In the United States the acronym PEMDAS is common. It stands for Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction. PEMDAS is often expanded to "Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally", with the first letter of each word creating the acronym PEMDAS.[7] Canada and New Zealand use BEDMAS, standing for Brackets, Exponents, Division, Multiplication, Addition, Subtraction. Most common in the UK and Australia[11] are BODMAS meaning "B"rackets, "O"f or "O"rder, "D"ivision, "M"ultiplication, "A"ddition and "S"ubtraction in Nigeria and some other West African countries and BIDMAS. In some English speaking countries, Parentheses may be called Brackets, or symbols of inclusion and Exponents may be called either Indices, Powers or Orders, which have the same precedence as Roots or Radicals. Since multiplication and division are of equal precedence, M and D are often interchanged, leading to such acronyms as BOMDAS. The original order of operations in some countries was BODMAS, which stands for Brackets, Orders or pOwers, Division, Multiplication, Addition, Subtraction. The O is sometimes associated with Of. This mnemonic was common until exponentials were added into the mnemonic.[12][13][14]

These mnemonics may be misleading when written this way,[7] especially if the user is not aware that multiplication and division are of equal precedence, as are addition and subtraction. Using any of the above rules in the order "addition first, subtraction afterward" would also give the wrong answer to the problem

[dfrecore]

I'm studying for College Mathematics thru InstantCert - and it says I should use BEDMAS for the order of operations?

I've always used PEMDAS (including last semester on campus taking beginning algebra) which of course reverses the multiply/divide and I could get every question wrong if I use the wrong one.

Could someone kindly confirm which is used on the CLEP exam??

You get the same results, because it doesn't matter which order the multiply/divide portion is in, nor the addition/subtraction. It only matters that you do the P/D first (parenthesis vs. brackets, same thing), THEN exponents, THEN multiply/divide in either order, THEN addition/subtraction in either order.

If you look it up online, it says that PEMDAS is more common in the US, and BEDMAS is more common in Canada/New Zealand. Other countries use different Mnemonics to remember it, but just because they use different words to describe different things. Still comes out the same.

[jsd]

You get the same results, because it doesn't matter which order the multiply/divide portion is in, nor the addition/subtraction.

You don't get the same answer either way.

take this example: 4 / 2 * 2. Your answer is either 4 or 1 depending on what you do first.

(the correct answer is 4, by the way, because you do it in the order of what appears first).


Same for add/subtract. For 10-3+2, the correct answer is 9, not 5.

[dfrecore]

You don't get the same answer either way.

take this example: 4 / 2 * 2. Your answer is wither 4 or 1 depending on what you do first.

(the correct answer is 4, by the way, because you do it in the order of what appears first).

But that's because you do it in order from left to right, NOT because division must come before multiplication.

A quote from wikipedia "multiplication and division are of equal precedence, as are addition and subtraction."

[jsd]

But that's because you do it in order, NOT because division comes before multiplication.

A quote from wikipedia "multiplication and division are of equal precedence, as are addition and subtraction."

yes, that's the point i was clarifying. You said order doesn't matter, but order does matter. you do the sign that comes first from left to right.

[dfrecore]

yes, that's the point i was clarifying. You said order doesn't matter, but order does matter. you do the sign that comes first from left to right.

I was saying that multiplication doesn't take precedence over division or addition over subtraction.

[jsd]

I was saying that multiplication doesn't take precedence over division or addition over subtraction.

we're saying the same thing right now, I'm not disagreeing. I was just adding clarification to your initial statement "because it doesn't matter which order the multiply/divide portion is in, nor the addition/subtraction" and "THEN multiply/divide in either order" for the asker's sake, not to say you are wrong

[Old Guy]

" 4 / 2 * 2. Your answer is either 4 or 1 depending on what you do first." // 2*1/2*4 = 4 // division by 2 is multiplication by 1/2 // Order is irrelevant.

"10-3+2, the correct answer is 9, not 5." // -3+2+10 = 9 // How would you ever get 5?

[clep3705]

We could be like LinkedIn and have a pointless discussion about what the answer must be.