What you’ll learn to do: Correctly use the order of operations

What is [latex]3+5\times2[/latex] ? Is it [latex]13[/latex] or [latex]16[/latex] ? This may seem like a trick question, but there is actually only one correct answer.

Many years ago, mathematicians developed a standard order of operations that tells you which calculations to make first in an expression with more than one operation. In other words, order of operations simply refers to the specific order of steps you should follow when you solve a math expression. Without a standard procedure for making calculations, two people could get two different answers to the same problem, like the one above. So which is it, [latex]13[/latex] or [latex]16[/latex] ? By the end of this module you’ll know!