The simple mathematical challenge that is baffling everyone on Twitter

This seems a fairly simple account, but it is precisely this simplicity that complicates it. Someone shared it on Twitter and quickly became viral, especially for the two responses that he generated. L & # 39; s operation? 8 ÷ 2 (2 + 2).

The tweet had hundreds of RTs, but the most interesting were the answers. Many users have said without hesitation that the correct answer is 1. This makes sense, if not because another large number of people have deduced that the result is actually 16.

The user who shared the "dilemma" said that for him the account gave 1but in other messages he was hesitant.

"I'm doing parentheses, multiplications, then divisions, so I think it's 1," wrote @pjmdoll.

The main problem of this virus? The way he is raised. "The way in which the operation is written is ambiguous "He explained to the portal 20 minutes from Spain Mike Breen, from the American Mathematical Society.

Two methods, two results

Although it may sound strange, the correct answer depends on the method we learned to solve these types of combined operations. The options are two: PEMDAS and BODMAS, which owe their name to the acronyms that mark the order.

With him PEMDAS method, the command is the following. Parentheses, exponents, multiplication, division, addition (in English) and subtraction (subtraction). With this system, the result is 16.

8 ÷ 2 (2×2) = 8 2 (4) = 4 (4) = 16

Instead, if we use the BODMAS system, the count will give: 1. Hooks, order (powers and roots), division, multiplication, addition (addition) and subtraction (subtraction).

8 ÷ 2 (2×2) = 8 2 (4) = 8 8 = 1