How would you solve the equation 2+2X2?

I, and most of my Facebook friends, say 6 (as opposed to 8)

I don’t think there’s any question about the conventional answer: order of operations says you handle multiplication before addition.

The answer to this is 6. Multiplication is done before additon.

Not again…

The answer, as has already been stated, is 6.

And with 4 posters now agreeing, I think we have a quorum.

I fully expect this to become a PEMDAS trainwreck.

The fact that anyone’s asking to begin with implies that someone thinks it’s 8. Who?

Two 2x2’s, which you could use in building a treehouse, or make into a letter “T”, or have a swordfight with.

Not sure if trolling or just very stupid…

Most people at work did. Most of them did caveat that this would be “informal” maths before they answered, so they were aware of the distinction. The ones who didn’t were just annoyed at the “GOTCHA!” nature of the question. Which it is. (And then re-wrote it 2*2+2, so that it made sense.)

I’ve always thought that it stemmed from our long-time usage of calculators, which calculates each piece of the simple equations we usually use them for piecemeal as we write them in.

It’s obvious to me. X has a root at -1/2.

To add to what everyone else has said, assuming people that come up with an answer of 8 are just doing this from left to right, the equation would break the commutative rule since
2 x 2 + 2 =6.
Of course, anyone who answers 8 probably doesn’t remember the commutative rule from grade school arithmetic.

42

For safety’s sake, I just want to clarify this isn’t directed at Chronos, but at the guy whose Facebook page the linked picture is.

Please EXcuse My Dear Aunt Sally.

Precisely!

X = -0.5

You said “solve the equation”, not “evaluate the expression”.

Unfriend anyone who got it wrong. You don’t need dumb friends.

Pubes Express Manly Depression/Apathy Syndrome.