ShmoopTube

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And here's your shmoop du jour.

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When simplifying the expression (16) + (-4) - (-4) × (-5) ÷ (-3),

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which operation should be performed first?

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Here are the potential answers...

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...and hit pause. Try this thing yourself first.

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This is a pretty vanilla question testing whether we understand ordering.

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In general, ordering goes like this:

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Parentheses

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Exponents

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Then multiplication and division

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Then addition and subtraction

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And the process goes generally from left to right.

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So since there are no parentheses or exponents here...

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...we start with the multiplication and division.

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The leftmost elements is the negative 4 times negative 5 -- that's the operation we do first.

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So the answer is just C.

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We have now proven ourselves as ordering masters.

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