She answered:
$$60 – 10 \times 2 + 8 \div 2 =$$
How old is Linda?
Do you think you have the answer? Test your skills and see how the math works out below!
The Secret to Solving It: Order of Operations
The reason this puzzle trips so many people up isn’t because the numbers are large or complex; it’s all about remembering the standard mathematical order of operations (often remembered by acronyms like PEMDAS or BODMAS).
When evaluating an expression containing subtraction, multiplication, addition, and division, you must perform multiplication and division first, working from left to right, before doing any addition or subtraction.
Let’s solve Linda’s equation step by step:
Continue on the next page:
