this post was submitted on 07 Dec 2023
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I see what you're getting at but the issue isn't really the assumed multiplication symbol and it's priority. It's the fact that when there is implicit multiplication present in an algebraic expression, and really best practice for any math above algebra, you should never use the 'Γ·' symbol. You need to represent the division as a numerator and denominator which gets rid of any ambiguity since the problem will explicitly show whether (2+2) is modifying the numerator or denominator. Honestly after 7th grade I can't say I ever saw a 'Γ·' being used and I guess this is why.
That said, I'll die on a hill that this is 16.
There is another example where the pemdas is even better covered than a simple parenthetical multiplication, but the answer there is the same: It's the arbitrary syntax, not the math rules.
You guys are both correct. It's 16 and the problem is a syntax that implies a wrong order of operations. The syntax isn't wrong, either, just implicative in your example and seemingly arbitrary in the other example I wish I remembered.
Precedence is the term usually used for this (at least anywhere where computers have to parse expressions)