PEMDAS: A Helpful Acronym for Pre-Algebra
Pre-Algebra is a class centered primarily on fundamentals on which much of what the student learns will be built upon – the skills used here will not go away throughout your math career! Because of this, it is crucial that students cement their knowledge via continuous practice of the concepts.
A common obstacle for beginning algebra students is knowing where to start and following the correct order of operations. The correct order – Parenthesis, Exponents, Multiply, Divide, Add, then Subtract – is critical to ensure your answer is correct.
An easy way to remember this is to use the acronym PEMDAS!
Example of wrong order of operations:
1 + 2 x 3= ?
1 + 2 x 3: Adding first the result is:
3 x 3, or 9
Example of correct order of operations:
1 + 2 x 3= ?
1 + 2 x 3: Multiplying first the result is:
1 + 6, or 7
Learn more about College Tutors/Spark Learning
