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Old 11-09-2011, 05:29 AM  
Jel
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I have a strong suspicion that the way they teach maths in your primary schools in the USA is completely different to what they teach in the UK.

As sure as you are that it's 41 because the order of operations always apply, I (and it looks like everyone else in the UK) is as sure they don't always apply, unless specifically in algebra/scientific maths.

We had separate lessons to explain to us the difference between eg 40 + 40 * 0 +1 and 40 + (40 * 0) + 1

That's the only reason I can think of that everyone is 100% confident in their answer, be it 41 or 1.
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