Okay. So this is what I just figured out by trying to do a couple equations like these.
4 + 3 x 8 + 6 - 8 / 2
We can make sense of how the order works by trying to look at numbers separately.
So 4 alone is 4. It’s absolutely 4.
But if you look at the next number, it’s 3, but accompanied with x (3 times) So it’s 3x8. So the actual number there would be 24. So we put 24 instead of 3x8.
Next, there is 6. Which again is a complete number by itself, so we leave it alone.
Next comes 8, but it is accompanied with 8/2, that means it’s actually 4, not 8 alone.
Once we’re done changing all the numbers to complete values, we do the addition and subtraction
paranoiaddict t1_iybvmil wrote
Reply to ELI5 why we first multiply, then add by TheManNamedPeterPan
Okay. So this is what I just figured out by trying to do a couple equations like these.
4 + 3 x 8 + 6 - 8 / 2
We can make sense of how the order works by trying to look at numbers separately. So 4 alone is 4. It’s absolutely 4. But if you look at the next number, it’s 3, but accompanied with x (3 times) So it’s 3x8. So the actual number there would be 24. So we put 24 instead of 3x8. Next, there is 6. Which again is a complete number by itself, so we leave it alone. Next comes 8, but it is accompanied with 8/2, that means it’s actually 4, not 8 alone. Once we’re done changing all the numbers to complete values, we do the addition and subtraction