I agree with Stace. Multiplication takes priority over addition, so the correct answer is 41.
If you punch it into a calculator as written, then the answer comes out as 1... but that's because calculators are stupid and don't understand the proper order of operations (PEMDAS). That also demonstrates the danger of depending on a calculator rather than learning math.
We didn't get to take calculators into the exam, although for some reason, they allowed us to use them in the classroom; way back before the Stone Ages (that would be in those pre-Internet days) they were expensive machines! My Dad had one, but I wasn't allowed to use it for homework. So come exam time, I was fine; many in my class, well, weren't!
I really don't know about "those" HP calculators, because I have never used one. I guess it all depends on whether the calculator evaluates the entire equation when you hit "=" (like Google's online calculator does) or if it performs each function as it is entered.
And speaking of Stone Age implements, in high school I used a slide rule.
I had to learn those as well! I had a very nice one, in a sturdy plastic case; it was supposed to get me through the college years... (It was expected, by pretty much everyone except me, that I would go onto to do a math degree in college; I went into a trade, instead!)
In the 70's, HP made a calculator that used RP notation, and it didn't produce a result until you hit "=". ... Come to think of it, the maker might have been Texas Instruments?
40 + (40 * 0) + 1
ReplyDelete40 + 0 + 1 = 41
Right?
It's astonishing how many people said "1". As Angel said - precedence is important!
DeleteIt was something I saw on Facebook, and in an idle moment I put it up here. :-)
I agree with Stace. Multiplication takes priority over addition, so the correct answer is 41.
ReplyDeleteIf you punch it into a calculator as written, then the answer comes out as 1... but that's because calculators are stupid and don't understand the proper order of operations (PEMDAS). That also demonstrates the danger of depending on a calculator rather than learning math.
Didn't those HP calculators have correct precedence ordering? The one's that used Reverse Polish?
DeleteThat's a good point, Angel - it does do that, doesn't it?
We didn't get to take calculators into the exam, although for some reason, they allowed us to use them in the classroom; way back before the Stone Ages (that would be in those pre-Internet days) they were expensive machines! My Dad had one, but I wasn't allowed to use it for homework. So come exam time, I was fine; many in my class, well, weren't!
DeleteI really don't know about "those" HP calculators, because I have never used one. I guess it all depends on whether the calculator evaluates the entire equation when you hit "=" (like Google's online calculator does) or if it performs each function as it is entered.
DeleteAnd speaking of Stone Age implements, in high school I used a slide rule.
I had to learn those as well! I had a very nice one, in a sturdy plastic case; it was supposed to get me through the college years... (It was expected, by pretty much everyone except me, that I would go onto to do a math degree in college; I went into a trade, instead!)
DeleteIn the 70's, HP made a calculator that used RP notation, and it didn't produce a result until you hit "=". ... Come to think of it, the maker might have been Texas Instruments?