{"id":38557,"date":"2026-03-07T15:21:44","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T15:21:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedailyglow.fun\/?p=38557"},"modified":"2026-03-07T15:21:44","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T15:21:44","slug":"a-short-expression-written-on-notebook-paper-15-%c3%b7-5-x-3-%e2%88%92-9-looks-harmless-yet-it-highlights-one-of-the-most-common-points-of-confusion-in-everyday-math-how-to-appl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedailyglow.fun\/?p=38557","title":{"rendered":"A short expression written on notebook paper\u201415 \u00f7 5 \u00d7 3 \u2212 9\u2014looks harmless. Yet it highlights one of the most common points of confusion in everyday math: how to apply the order of operations when division and multiplication appear together."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A single arithmetic expression: 15 \u00f7 5 \u00d7 3 \u2212 9<br \/>\nNo parentheses, no fraction bar\u2014just division, multiplication, and subtraction in a row<br \/>\nThe Name Behind the \u201cRule\u201d: Order of Operations (PEMDAS\/BODMAS)<br \/>\nThis problem is really about the Order of Operations, often taught using mnemonics such as:<\/p>\n<p>PEMDAS: Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction<br \/>\nBODMAS\/BIDMAS: Brackets, Orders, Division, Multiplication, Addition, Subtraction<br \/>\nImportant clarification: Multiplication and division share the same priority, and so do addition and subtraction. That means you calculate left to right within each priority level.<\/p>\n<p>When It Was \u201cCreated\u201d and Who Made It<\/p>\n<p>Name: The convention is known as the order of operations (mnemonics came later).<br \/>\nTime of adoption: It evolved over centuries as algebraic notation developed and was later standardized in textbooks to avoid ambiguity.<br \/>\nCreator: There is no single inventor; it\u2019s a shared mathematical convention refined and adopted by educators and mathematicians over time.<br \/>\nPurpose (what it\u2019s for): To ensure that an expression like 15 \u00f7 5 \u00d7 3 \u2212 9 is interpreted the same way by everyone, preventing multiple \u201ccorrect\u201d answers.<br \/>\nStep-by-Step: The Correct Evaluation<br \/>\nUsing the standard order of operations:<\/p>\n<p>Handle multiplication and division from left to right<br \/>\n15 \u00f7 5 = 3<br \/>\n3 \u00d7 3 = 9<br \/>\nThen handle subtraction<br \/>\n9 \u2212 9 = 0<br \/>\nFinal Answer: 0<\/p>\n<p>Why People Disagree About This Expression<br \/>\nConfusion usually comes from one (or both) of these issues:<\/p>\n<p>Mistaking \u201c\u00d7 before \u00f7\u201d as a rule<br \/>\nIn reality, \u00d7 and \u00f7 are equal priority; you go left to right.<br \/>\nTreating \u201c15 \u00f7 5 \u00d7 3\u201d like a hidden fraction<br \/>\nIf someone mentally rewrites it as 15 \u00f7 (5 \u00d7 3), they\u2019ll get a different result\u2014but that introduces parentheses that are not present in the original expression.<br \/>\nHow to Make It Unambiguous (Best Practice)<br \/>\nIf you\u2019re writing math for others (or for a test), clarity matters. These rewrites remove confusion:<\/p>\n<p>If you mean left-to-right:<br \/>\n(15 \u00f7 5) \u00d7 3 \u2212 9<br \/>\nIf you mean divide by the product:<br \/>\n15 \u00f7 (5 \u00d7 3) \u2212 9<br \/>\nOr use a clear fraction bar:<br \/>\n15 \/ (5 \u00d7 3) \u2212 9<br \/>\nKey Takeaway<\/p>\n<p>Multiplication and division are evaluated left to right.<br \/>\nFor 15 \u00f7 5 \u00d7 3 \u2212 9, the correct result under standard conventions is 0.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A single arithmetic expression: 15 \u00f7 5 \u00d7 3 \u2212 9 No parentheses, no fraction bar\u2014just division, multiplication, and subtraction in a row The Name Behind the&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38558,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedailyglow.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedailyglow.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedailyglow.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedailyglow.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedailyglow.fun\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=38557"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thedailyglow.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38557\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38559,"href":"https:\/\/thedailyglow.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38557\/revisions\/38559"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedailyglow.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/38558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedailyglow.fun\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=38557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedailyglow.fun\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=38557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedailyglow.fun\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=38557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}