Orders of Operations

Dear all,

There is a need to recap on orders of operations again with you. After marking through your work, I have come to realise that a handful of you are still clueless about what step to work out first. To summarise,

• Subtractions and Additions are of equal importance.
• Multiplication and Division are of equal importance.
• Multiplication and Division ARE MORE IMPORTANT than Subtraction and Additions.

Always work from left to right unless you have special conditions in the number statement. 

Example 1

2 + 4 - 5 

We identify the symbols first!

+ and - 

Both are of equal importance.

We work from left to right

2 + 4 - 5

= 6 - 5

= 1

Example 2

2 x 2 ÷ 4

We identify the symbols first!

x and ÷

Both are of equal importance.

We work from left to right

2 x 2 ÷ 4

= 4 ÷ 4

= 1

Example 3

5 - 3 x 4 ÷ 6

We identify the symbols first!

- and x and ÷

x and ÷ are MORE IMPORTANT than - 

We work on x and ÷ first, from left to right.

5 - 3 x 4 ÷ 6

= 5 - 12 ÷ 6

= 5 - 2 

= 3

Example 4

(4-2) x 6 + 4

Identify the symbols first!

( - ) and x and +

( ) are the most important, followed by x and then +.

Work from left to right.

(4-2) x 6 + 4

= 2 x 6 + 4

= 12 + 4

= 16

Homework:

Word Problems 2 Pages 45, 46, 47 and 49.

Sincerely,

Mr Nelson Ong