https://zeta.one/viral-math/

I wrote a (very long) blog post about those viral math problems and am looking for feedback, especially from people who are not convinced that the problem is ambiguous.

It’s about a 30min read so thank you in advance if you really take the time to read it, but I think it’s worth it if you joined such discussions in the past, but I’m probably biased because I wrote it :)

  • Supervisor194@lemmy.world
    61·
    11 months ago

    ChatGPT’s Answer:

    The expression 6/2(1+2) involves both multiplication and division. According to the order of operations (PEMDAS/BODMAS), you should perform operations inside parentheses first, then any multiplication or division from left to right.

    Let’s break down the expression step by step:

    Inside the parentheses: 1 + 2 = 3

    Now the expression becomes 6/2 * 3

    Division: 6/2 = 3

    Multiplication: 3 * 3 = 9

    So, 6/2(1+2) is equal to 9.

    • wischi@programming.devOP
      1·
      11 months ago

      Chat GPT’s answer for me:

      Certainly! The expression 6/2(1+2) is ambiguous due to the implicit multiplication. Let’s solve it in both ways:

      1. Implicit multiplication with higher priority:

      [ \frac{6}{2}(1+2) ]

      First, solve the parentheses:

      [ \frac{6}{2}(3) ]

      Now, perform the division:

      [ 3 \times 3 = 9 ]

      1. Implicit multiplication with the same priority as division:

      [ \frac{6}{2(1+2)} ]

      Again, solve the parentheses:

      [ \frac{6}{2(3)} ]

      Now, perform the multiplication first:

      [ \frac{6}{6} = 1 ]

      So, depending on the interpretation of implicit multiplication, you can get different results: 9 or 1.

      I think it’s funny that ChatGPT figured out 1 and 9 but has the steps completely backwards. First it points out what has high priority and then does the exact opposite, both times 🤣