this post was submitted on 12 Dec 2023
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6÷2(1+2) (programming.dev)
submitted 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) by wischi@programming.dev to c/memes@lemmy.ml
 

https://zeta.one/viral-math/

I wrote a (very long) blog post about those viral math problems and am looking for feedback, especially from people who are not convinced that the problem is ambiguous.

It's about a 30min read so thank you in advance if you really take the time to read it, but I think it's worth it if you joined such discussions in the past, but I'm probably biased because I wrote it :)

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[–] jordanlund@lemmy.world 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Interesting that Excel sees =6/2(1+2) as an invalid formula and will not calculate it (at least on mobile). =6/2*(1+2) returns 9 because it's executing the division and multiplication left to right (6/2=3*3=9).

Google Sheets (mobile) does't like it either and returns an error. =6/2*(1+2) also returns "9".

[–] SmartmanApps@programming.dev 1 points 9 months ago

Excel and Google are both wrong. In fact, Microsoft excels 😂in this area, with Excel, the Windows calculator, and MathSolver all getting it wrong in different ways! dotnet.social/@SmartmanApps/111164851485070719