LogFAQs > #960399605

markconigliaro posted...

There's no such thing as "styles" in math. Math works only 1 way for everyone, no exceptions.

This is incorrect. We can see two different styles on display in this topic. What matters is to have an internally consistent set of rules, not the exact rules. While something simple, like say 7 multiplied by 8 is 56(in base 10) and has natural rules, the symbol used to express this operation can vary from place to place and when you combine multiple simple operations together, you need a grammar system which can also vary.
markconigliaro posted...

That's the step where your wrong, 162(4) = 8(4). PEMDAS isn't a strict order, multiplication and division, same with addition and subtraction, are on the same level. So they are done left to right, always. See the paragraph above example 1, and also the last paragraph in example 3 (also see the URL that says 6th grade)

They understand that, however, in some styles x(y) is not the same thing as x*y. The x(y) has a higher priority level.

For a good example on styles, take somthing like -4^2. In some styles that is negative four to the 2nd power and is 16. In others, it would be -16 because the - is taken to not be part of the 4, but an operation saying to flip the sign of the result. So like -4^2 is (-4)^2 in one and -(4^2) in another. Neither of them are wrong, because the grammar is arbitrary and not based on anything real and physical. So as long as the chosen way of doing things is consistently done, you end up with a coherent math system.

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