• doctorcrimson@lemmy.today
    14·
    11 months ago

    I think when a number or variable is adjacent a bracket or parenthesis then it’s distribution to the terms within should always take place before any other multiplication or division outside of it. I think there is a clear right answer and it’s 1.

    • derphurr@lemmy.world
      14·
      11 months ago

      No there is no clear right answer because it is ambiguous. You would never seen it written that way.

      Does it mean A÷[(B)©] or A÷B*C

      • doctorcrimson@lemmy.today
        2·
        11 months ago

        It means

        A ÷ B(C) which is equivalent to A ÷ (B*C)

        I literally just explained this. The Parenthesis takes priority over multiplication and division outright.

        Maybe
B*C = B(C)
But
A ÷ B(C) =! A ÷ B * C
        • derphurr@lemmy.world
          2·
          11 months ago

          No. It’s ambiguous. In a math book or written by anyone that actually uses math, you don’t have a “%”

          You group stuff below the line, and you use parens and brackets to group things like (a + b) and (x)(y) so that it is not ambiguous.

          2/xy would be almost always interpreted differently than 2/x(x+y) which is ambiguous and could mean (2/x)(x+y) or 2/[(x)(x+y)]

          • doctorcrimson@lemmy.today
            2·
            11 months ago

            You continue to say it’s ambiguous, but the most commonly used convention on earth very clearly prioritizes parenthesis. It is not ambiguous.