Every few months, a simple math equation goes viral, sparking thousands of heated debates in comment sections. The latest culprit? A seemingly innocent string of numbers: 2 x 2 – 2 ÷ 2 + 2 = ?
While it looks like something from a third-grade workbook, “nobody seems to agree on the right answer.” Here is why this equation is causing such a stir and the definitive proof of the correct solution.
The Order of Operations: PEMDAS vs. BODMAS
The reason people get different answers isn’t that math is subjective; it’s because many of us have forgotten the Order of Operations. Whether you learned it as PEMDAS (Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication and Division, Addition and Subtraction) or BODMAS, the rules are the same: you cannot simply solve from left to right.
