Quote:
Originally Posted by Jel
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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No. You're simply wrong.
Math is absolute. Rules apply and they always apply so that you always reach the same answer to a given equation period. According to you there's two different answers depending on the kind of "Maths" you apply. If that were true there would need to be some sort of notation to specify which rules you use, which you'll notice there isn't.
The answer is 41 period.
Do you guys really call it MathS in the UK? That sounds so strange. Math is short for Mathematics which already has an S.