Have you ever been asked to “evaluate the expression”?
Well, that’s the same thing as being asked to “simplify” or “find the value.”
Basic Math Symbols
Expressions can be numerical, meaning they only contain numbers, or the can be variable, where there are symbols or letters in the expression that represents unknown number(s).
Now, the way in which we evaluate or simplify an expression is known as the Order of Operations, or Operator Precedence.
These rules tell us which operations or procedures we are to perform first when evaluating a given mathematical expression.
Remember, “operations” in mathematics refers to addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, grouping, or any other mathematical process.
Order of Operations Defined
In the United States we have adopted the acronym PEMDAS whereas in Europe you may use BODMAS, and in Canada, BEMDAS or even GEMDAS as Purple Math nicely states. And you may have even heard of the fun mnemonic “Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally.”
How to Remember the Order of Operations
And these acronyms help us to remember which operations receive higher priority or precedence or rank. Regardless of which acronym you use, all of them apply the same convention of which operation is to be performed first. Math order of operations goes something like this:
- Parentheses or Brackets represent any Grouping Symbol, and that means you must simplify inside them first
- Exponents or Order represents Powers like squaring, cubing, etc.
- Multiplication and Division (whichever comes first working left to right)
- Addition and Subtraction (whichever comes first working left to right)
In this lesson we are going to ensure mastery of the Order of Operations for numerical expression, with countless examples, and we are going to successfully evaluate variable expressions using substitution, which is is just another way of saying “plug it in.”
Order of Operations (How-To) – Video
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