And you know what really drives me absolutely bonkers? Those viral math problems people post on social media just to stir the pot. You've seen them: a string of numbers and symbols with no context, followed by "Only geniuses can solve this!" or "90% will get this wrong!" And sure enough, the comments are filled with people confidently defending the wrong answer like it's a hill they're willing to die on. You can practically hear the echoes of middle school math lessons they slept through. And when someone tries to explain the actual order of operations, they get downvoted or told they're "overthinking it." No, Karen, it's not overthinking. It's math. It has rules.

Let's test your math brain for a second. What do you think about this one?

8 + 2 x 5

Just do it in your head. Got it?

Okay, how about this one: (1)

100 / 10 x 2

Feel good about it? One more:

12 / 3(2)

Yeah. That one. If you're like most people, at least one of those tripped you up. Maybe all three. And don't feel bad if they did, because even some math teachers argue over how to interpret that last one. But there's a reason these confuse people: they look simple... and they're designed to take advantage of how poorly we remember something we all learned in 5th grade.

Let's talk about PEMDAS. (2)

Most people were taught it as a way to remember the order of operations in math:

P - Parentheses
E - Exponents
M - Multiplication
D - Division
A - Addition
S - Subtraction

But here's where things go sideways: the acronym PEMDAS is misleading.

People think it means:

- Do all the P's, then all the E's, then all the M's, etc.
- M comes before D, and A comes before S.

Wrong.

In reality, M and D are on the same level, and you do them left to right. Same with A and S.

So it really works like this: Parentheses first, then exponents, then multiplication or division (left to right), then addition or subtraction (left to right).

It should be written as PE(MD)(AS) or:

P - Parentheses
E - Exponents
MD - Multiplication & Division
AS - Addition & Subtraction

Let's go back and break those three problems down.

First one: 8 + 2 x 5
If you added 8 + 2 first to get 10, and then multiplied by 5 to get 50, sorry. That's not how it works. Multiplication comes before addition.
2 x 5 = 10
8 + 10 = 18
18 is the correct answer.

Second one: 100 / 10 x 2
If you divided 100 by 10 to get 10, and then multiplied by 2 to get 20, nice job. That's the correct way. But if you did 10 x 2 = 20 first and then 100 / 20 = 5, nope. Multiplication doesn't come before division. They're equals. You go left to right.

Third one: 12 / 3(2)
Now this one causes chaos. Some people treat 3(2) like a grouped expression, like 3 x 2 stuck inside invisible parentheses. That leads them to say:
12 / (3 x 2) = 12 / 6 = 2

But according to the standard interpretation of order of operations, there's no parentheses enclosing that denominator. So:
12 / 3 = 4
Then 4 x 2 = 8
So the correct answer is 8. 3(2) is just shorthand for multiplication. The parentheses are only making it look grouped. They're not actually doing anything.

Still not convinced? If that were meant to be grouped, it would be written:
12 / (3(2))
or better yet, it should be written:
12 / (3 x 2)

Ambiguity is the real enemy here. And that's a problem not just in math, but in writing, programming, and logic in general. The human brain hates ambiguity. But you have to recognize it before you can fix it.

Let's do a few more, just for fun.

6 - 3 + 2
A lot of people think subtraction always comes last. Wrong again. Subtraction and addition are equals, so we go left to right:
6 - 3 = 3, then 3 + 2 = 5

20 - 5 x 2
Multiplication first: 5 x 2 = 10
Then 20 - 10 = 10
Not 30.

10 + 4 / 2
4 / 2 = 2
Then 10 + 2 = 12

One more, just to show how this creeps into the real world...

Say you're doing your monthly budget, and your spreadsheet has this formula:

=Income + TaxRate * Income

If you don't use parentheses, Excel will multiply TaxRate x Income first, then add it to Income. That's fine if you're calculating total with tax added. But what if you meant to apply the tax after subtracting some deductions? Now you have to be explicit:

=(Income - Deductions) + TaxRate * (Income - Deductions)

It's the same logic Access uses in calculated fields. You want to be crystal clear about how things evaluate, or your results could be quietly wrong.

Bottom line: PEMDAS is not a list. It's a hierarchy, with tie-breakers.

Parentheses and exponents are strict rules. But multiplication vs. division? Left to right. Addition vs. subtraction? Same.

If you're ever in doubt, write in more parentheses. Clarity beats cleverness.

And if you think this only matters in math class... think again. Misunderstood rules lead to miscalculated budgets, broken Access formulas, and yes, even arguments over what a formula like 12 / 3(2) really means.

What do you think? Should we go deeper into some real-world examples in Access next time? Or do you want me to test you with a few more PEMDAS puzzles?

Let me know in the comments. And double-check your math before you hit Enter.

LLAP
RR

(1) For those of you non-programmers, the forward-slash / is used to represent division in most programming languages. I prefer using it instead of the division symbol because... well... reasons. LOL

(2) Some of you may have learned it as BODMAS: Brackets, Orders, Division, Multiplication, Addition, Subtraction. Same thing, different terminology, more British.

P.S. And yes, I'm literally writing this Captain's Log post so that any time I see some dumbasses arguing over a math problem on social media, I can just post a link to this. SMDH.

P.P.S. Do you know what the answer to the equation in the picture is? If so, post it below.