You can put this solution on YOUR website! Given:
.
13 - 4 x 5 / 2 +10 = 13
.
Let's replace the x with the multiplication symbol *. It doesn't change the problem, but
it makes it a little easier to read because we won't confuse the x (meaning times) with the
letter x which is often used as an unknown in algebra. So the given equation becomes:
.
13 - 4 * 5/2 +10 = 13
.
How about if we put parentheses around the middle term to set it apart as follows:
.
13 -((4*5)/2) + 10 = 13
.
The parentheses now make this problem in the textbook form:
.
.
Notice that the 4*5 is 20 and when you divide that by the 2 you get 10. This reduces
the problem to:
.
.
And the -10 and +10 cancel each other out, so the problem is reduced to:
.
.
This is a true statement, so by using the parentheses the way we did we made the given problem
much easier to understand because it was then in the correct form.
.
The lesson here is that using parentheses can really help to clarify a problem. You see
a lot of students in this forum write things such as:
.
2/x+7
.
According to the rules governing the order of operations, this means:
.
.
but you wonder if they didn't mean to write 2/(x+7) which is completely different
because it means:
.
.
That lack of clarity causes some tutors to disregard the problem because they don't know
which version they should work and they may just confuse the student by working the wrong
one.
.
Hope this helps you to understand the importance of parentheses. It sure doesn't hurt
to use them to make sure you are communicating what you mean in a problem.
(