833
6÷2(1+2) (programming.dev)
submitted 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) by wischi@programming.dev to c/memes@lemmy.ml

https://zeta.one/viral-math/

I wrote a (very long) blog post about those viral math problems and am looking for feedback, especially from people who are not convinced that the problem is ambiguous.

It's about a 30min read so thank you in advance if you really take the time to read it, but I think it's worth it if you joined such discussions in the past, but I'm probably biased because I wrote it :)

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] SmartmanApps@programming.dev 1 points 8 months ago

I believe you meant x(y+z)=xy+xz.

Actually it should be x(y+z)=(xy+xz), as that's exactly where a lot of people go wrong. They go from 6/2(1+2) to 6/2x3, instead of to 6/(2x3), and thus end up with the wrong answer (cos that flipped the 3 from being in the denominator to being in the numerator. i.e. instead of dividing by 3 they are now multiplying by 3, all because they removed brackets prematurely).

this post was submitted on 12 Dec 2023
833 points (96.4% liked)

Memes

45754 readers
964 users here now

Rules:

  1. Be civil and nice.
  2. Try not to excessively repost, as a rule of thumb, wait at least 2 months to do it if you have to.

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS