Order of operations to simplify expressions .

Join the discussion
Ask a follow-up here, or get your own question answered by working scientists, mathematicians and engineers — people, not an autocomplete.
Real named experts · corrections over time · the nuance an AI answer skips
2 replies · 2K views
rachealfarr
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Hi, I have worked the problem but I am not sure that this is the correct answer, Please help.

3(-3) - (5)2^2
____________

8- SQRoot(36) +12 I got an answer of 11/14
but When I check on an online calculator to see if it is correct I am getting 5.5 ...

2^2 = TWO SQUARED
SQRoot = Square root of

Thank you :)
 
Mathematics news on Phys.org
Welcome, rachealfarr. (Wave)

The fraction

$$\frac{3(-3) - (5)2^2}{8 - \sqrt{36} + 12}$$

cannot be equal to either $11/14$ or $5.5$. It's a negative number: $3(-3) - (5)2^2 = -9 - (5)4 = -9 - 20 = -29$ and $8 - \sqrt{36} + 12 = 8 - 6 + 12 = 2 + 12 = 14$, hence the fraction is $-29/14$.

Could you check again to make sure you have the right fraction?
 
$$\frac{3(-3)-(5)2^2}{8-\sqrt{36}+12}=\frac{3(-3)-(5)4}{8-6+12}=\frac{-9-20}{8-6+12}=-\frac{29}{14}$$