The Internet’s Favorite Trap: Decoding $8 – 8 times 8 + 8$
Every few weeks, a deceptively simple arithmetic problem pops up on social media, sparking thousands of passionate comments, heated arguments, and absolute confusion. At first glance, it looks like a harmless second-grade arithmetic exercise. But expressions like $8 – 8 times 8 + 8$ have a magical way of dividing the internet into two fiercely opposed camps.
So, what is the actual answer? Let’s break it down step-by-step and uncover why so many people get it wrong.
The Rules of the Road: Order of Operations
To solve this expression correctly, we have to rely on a universal set of rules established to prevent mathematical chaos: the Order of Operations, commonly remembered by acronyms like PEMDAS (Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication and Division, Addition and Subtraction) or BODMAS (Brackets, Orders, Division and Multiplication, Addition and Subtraction).
The core rule to remember here is that multiplication and division take precedence over addition and subtraction. You must perform them before moving from left to right for the remaining operations.
Let’s apply this to our problem:
$$8 – 8 times 8 + 8$$
Step 1: Handle the Multiplication
Look for any multiplication or division symbols. Here, we have $8 times 8$:
- $8 times 8 = 64$
Now, substitute that result back into the original expression:
$$8 – 64 + 8$$
Step 2: Addition and Subtraction (Left to Right)
A common mistake people make at this stage is to jump straight to the addition ($64 + 8$) because of the acronym “PEMDAS” or “BODMAS” making addition sound like it comes before subtraction. However, addition and subtraction share the exact same priority level. When they appear together, you must evaluate them strictly from left to right.
Let’s do the subtraction first:
- $8 – 64 = -56$
Now add the final $8$:
- $-56 + 8 = -48$
(Alternatively, using the commutative property, you can group the positive numbers first: $(8 + 8) – 64 = 16 – 64 = -48$.)
Leave a Reply