Getting the question wrong is one issue, but I think solving it in 3 seconds without any kind of primer/context-setting question would require superior intellect.
@@dinklebob1 I thought 3 seconds was quite reasonable. Just looking at the thumbnail, I was already reading it as "9 - 1 + 3" without even thinking, so all I had to spend time on was the addition.
@@MaskOfCinder Well, I didn't time myself. But I got it pretty fast. I would say it took me five seconds. But I was also being pretty careful because I assumed it was a trick question. I think it's possible I could have arrived at the answer in 3 seconds had I known there was a time limit. And I'm not a genius, as far as I know.
I would have told the interviewer, "I don't think this job is a good fit for me. I prefer giving correct answers over meeting arbitrary deadlines." Keep in mind, interviews work both ways. They've just given you an insight into how management thinks.
@@Blade.5786 Depends on the job. Like maybe NASA? where there may be a crisis with limited time and you need to correctly determine a probes trajectory (using math) so you can safely guide it around the spacestation without smashing into it while also not sending the million dollar probe out of orbit and lost forever.
“Modern” ? I was taught that order of operations 50 years ago by someone who was my current age at the time. So the “modern” interpretation has been employed for at least a century now.
The point of mathematics is communication. If the order of operations has changed (without the knowledge of many), using math to explain natural phenomena has become very difficult, has it not?
If your best candidate can't adapt mentally to solve an easy mathematical problem, what do you think is going to happen when they have to face a serious issue?
Amazing how people fail to understand the real reason for certain questions. In my last interview the first stage was with HR and a tech guy. His questions were irrelevant. Turns out all that interview did was allow HR to assess my cultural fit based on how I responded. If you think things are as black and white as that question says, you’ve a lot to learn.
@@X22GJP I get that, but the question my dear old man you see in the video, is a hit or loose question in india. People loose the jobs over that. As a Marketing director, in hiring season, I see candidates of all types. The people who brought wonders to the company will always fail in this type of questions, they are slow thinkers and high level producers. Ironically, who are so called "genius", who can answer this questions because they practiced it rather than focusing mainly on their role of job, are assistant to those in the upper hierarchy and are accountants.
“I’m sorry Mr. Scorsese. You would be the perfect person to direct my new blockbuster movie but you took 4 whole seconds to answer this maths question.”
I want to know what kind of job is it where doing a silly order of operations sequence in 3 seconds makes you more able to do the job than solving the same sequence in 4 seconds.
3:25 this is why my teacher in school taught PEMA instead of PEMDAS - to emphasize that multiplication and division have the same priority, and that addition and subtraction have the same priority
I'm curious if your teacher taught you that the obelus is actually a grouping symbol, not merely an operator. It makes the difference between right and wrong (but PEMDAS-friendly) answer!
@padraicbrown6718 by the time we were learning order of operations, we had abandoned that division symbol. I think we only used it in whatever grade we first learned about division, then from there we only used a slash or a fraction to represent division.
I said to myself, "this must be testing for proficiency in the application of the order of operations." Took me 7 seconds to arrive at the correct answer. Not hired.
I don't believe the CEO would be hiring himself either. No way there's many people that see this and can instantly get the answer. He's not going to be hiring too many people and should fire himself.
I'd have to watch the video again to be sure, but I don't think it said the CEO gave a 3 sec time limit. I think that was added afterwards when the problem was on social media.
Having watched this TH-camr for years and truly appreciating their content, I know honestly think that they are scrapping the bottom of their barrel when it comes to content.
When you get 11 but did not time yourself so you think….. “man that was probably 4-5 seconds”, but now are doomed to eternal torment of not knowing if you got the job or not 😂
I like to think that I’m very mathematically minded, but there is no way that I could solve this in just 3 seconds; I’d almost certainly panic and make a mistake. Perhaps one person in a thousand could pull it off.
I agree wholeheartedly. Even though I'm pretty good at math, I would absolutely screw up if I was given just 3 seconds. I don't even understand what skill this interview question aims to find. Thinking quickly? Working calmly under pressure? Either way, this just seems like a way to eliminate potentially great candidates who don't have some arbitrary skill like solving a math problem with intentionally bad notation in 3 seconds.
It's a problem where people who are foolish will get the wrong answer, and people who are smart will say, "There is a blatant error in how it's presented," and not get any answer in time, which filters so that the only people who get through are midwits. ...Actually, it makes sense that a hiring interviewer might want to use the question.
It's so nice to see somebody who's honest, I would have gotten this wrong, and my excuse is that I've been out of school for 18 years, and this kind of thing doesn't come up in real life.
Order of operation math problems are very popular online, but the irony is that real mathematicians try not write equations with such ambiguity. Much more likely to see (3*3) - (3/3) + 3 for the sake of clarity.
I find the order of operations quite straightforward, but I am not quick at mental arithmetic. It took me quite a bit longer than 3 seconds to decide the correct answer was 11, although perhaps that's because I run through everything more than once to double check I'm getting the same answer every time and haven't made a mistake.
Same. I'd rather you get it right, that you race through in 3 seconds. Found way too many times people get things wrong by rushing through and missing things.
@@neutronenstern. Yes it is. You can’t check your work for an equation like this in less than two seconds. You couldn’t even explain the equation in that short of time.
I would not work for a company that allows an ambiguous expression like this without parentheses. When the employees make things unnecessarily difficult like this to exalt the cognoscenti with an arcane insider understanding as a union card isn't a scientist or an engineer, but something more like an economist concealing bad analysis with obscurantism.
3 seconds is only hard part, when you are stressed, read question carefully and there is no time for that. It took me little bit more than 5 sec. It is level of 2nd class elementary school (8 y/o kids).
The problem is the use of the obelus, that symbol in itself is ambiguos. The meaning can shift depending on wich country you learned your maths in. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Division_sign#:~:text=The%20division%20sign%20(÷)%20is,different%20meaning%20in%20other%20countries.
@rasputinfaux150 is that symbol used anywhere beyond elementary math classes? I can't imagine any scenario where it is not better, less chance of confusion, to use just /. Kids are always asking about math, in general 'where am I ever going to use this?'. In the case of that symnbol, the answer is: nowhere. You will never see it again after grade 7 in school or the real world
Ultimately, order of operations is just an agreed convention. It can't be deduced just from logic or problem solving skills. Which is why it's so successful as an endless online debating point by people who don't realise that.
In a sufficiently large company, the CEO isn't doing any interviewing, except maybe for another C-level role. If I were being interviewed by that guy for such a role, I'd find this kind of question a little suspicious.
The Superintendent of the school district where I was an HR specialist would personally interview high school Language Arts candidate finalists. He would ask a question that he had made up. He wanted to see how the candidates answered. I’m still conflicted as to whether it was brilliant or deplorable.
No actual mathematician, or anybody using mathematics for any kind of useful work, would ever write an equation like this. So this would tell me straight away that the company is not worth working for. I'd walk out of the interview.
Its an equation not an expression. An expression is left as such an expression such as πr^2 where if r = 1 then the expression is π. It is an equation because the questionnaire wants to know what it exactly equals by a "=" assumed additional requirement, and thus an equation assumed answer.
I disagree completely because knowing the order of operations is basic math and there’s no mistake in how it was written, I couldn’t believe the answers people were giving as I got 11 immediately because I correctly followed the proper order and you can reverse the process to check your answer, it’s not a sign of of ignorance or stupidity to use it, it’s 100% reliable and justified and it’s peoples lack of knowledge of the math and problem solving skills that have a hard time with it and that’s not the equations fault lol. 😅✌️
For my job interview, they asked me what was the forces that applies to a mining tire and how to define its energy efficiency ... and they didn't consider that it was a question for a genius. I'd like to know what kind of CEO can ask such a trivial question ?!
If that was really a CEO interview, my 2nd point would be (after saying "11"): whoever gave you this should not work in your company. By standard, you add parentheses to remove any possible confusion, like you would remove most points of confusion in a presentation. If this is how your employees work, I can't imagine the amount of slack and lack of professionalism in the company. Points of confusion in Finance, QA, Marketing/Market analysis, Sales and ops are extremely common, and the last thing a team needs is to spend time on a point of confusion that could be easily avoided. Be clear, be concise, and ensure that the rest of the team can work together to deliver on objectives. There are many more ways to test the mental agility of an employee than playing on confusing set-up.
I did end up getting the answer almost instantaneously. It being labeled a brain teaser is a little weird. However, 3 seconds might be a tad short, maybe under 10 seconds with enough to time to process the entire thing without mistakes. I learned it as PEMDAS. However, it took me a little longer to remember that if the priority is the same, go left to right instead of multiply then divide and add then subtract.
When I was in college in the 90's, there was a movement to seperate the meaning of the ÷ and / symbols. In the equation 3×3-3÷3+3 would be 11, but in 3×3-3/3+3 would indeed be 1.
That seems backwards! The ÷ symbol is not formally part of mathematical notation so there is scope to play around with its meaning to get an answer other than 11 here. But the / symbol is the standard inline operator for division, so written as 3×3-3/3+3 the expression can't evaluate to anything other than 11.
CEO interviewing the candidates himself with a "trick question". Yes, Mahipal of Hindustan Times, we believe you can do it in 3 seconds, double the time that took you to compose the article
I've always hated these order of operations "puzzles". They aren't designed to be interesting nor challenging, but simply to guarantee engagement on social media, because the answer is subject to a (potentially) changing interpretation. And we all know how much people love to aimlessly squabble and bicker!
Order of operation never changes or fluctuates so there is no other interpretation possible, the answer is the answer 100% of the time regardless of who tries to solve it , you follow a very specific predetermined process to get the correct answer
@@harmony331000 That's not true. You're only talking about it in the context of modern K-12 pedagogy predominantly in North America, but there are many places, situations, and historical settings that had used different orders of operations. Even in modern context, there are still operations beyond PEMDAS that have ambiguous ordering, operations that are ambiguous as to whether they fit into PEMDAS or not (such as implicit multiplication by juxtaposition), ambiguities due to limitations in typesetting, and ambiguities due to using convenient shorthand. Even if there was a strict order of operations, as soon as it's written down using text, it becomes a language problem and depends on people interpreting the language.
@@letao12 well those are other completely different systems from different times and culture that do not apply at all to this particular mathematical system…I’m not saying there are not others but in this current situation it is relying on a particular system and problem solving processes.
@@harmony331000 How can you assert the current situation must only be interpreted under one particular system, when you fully acknowledge there are others?
@ 😅wowzers, you’ve misunderstood me completely I think 🤔 but I can confidently say what I said ( & if you can prove me wrong, show me ok) ….because we currently use a standard system for the program & procedure/ process of mathematics that is accepted by everyone globally and taught to our kids all thru school so if you want to get the correct answer to the equation or problem you’re trying to solve it must follow the maths that were used in making the equation in the first place lol there’s lots of different languages out there that are ancient & no longer used and if you tried to figure out what a current word means by using an ancient out of use language you would get the wrong answer according to the teacher teaching you right now and asking that question. I didn’t say these ancient math problem solving processes didn’t exist but that they are not used in the current problem solving procedures & expectations it won’t get you to the correct answer…. You need to know the type of math you are using at the time to get the answer people consider to be right.
I teach my students to identify the terms and simplify each term. There are three terms here: 3x3, 3/3, and 3. No combination of terms is possible until each term contains no more operations. Unfortunately, hardly any math classes devote sufficient time to explaining what a term is and how to use it. That’s too bad because if students looked at an expression as a series of terms, order of operations would not be as confusing
Exactly this. This is the entire point of order of operations. It only needs to be taught in order prepare students for understanding that mathematical expressions are made up of "terms" like this. That understanding should be the goal. Order of operations is just a step on the way to that understanding. Nobody who understands mathematical notation in the real world thinks about "order of operations". That's something that you grow out of by the age of about 12.
These puzzles are usually around the division operation/symbol. Would you have used „/„ or „:“, which are the standard symbols used in math programs or handwriting, I would agree with you. But this strange colon-dash symbol, which is not even part of the ascii character set, and the expectation of a trick question, always rises the question if the dash should suggest a fraction dash and as such lower the priority of the operation below addition/subtraction, as you explained with the typewriter issue. Yes, this is not standard math rules, but neither is the symbol you used for division. To me, this is a legacy symbol with a „graphical“ smell - „/„ would be the correct one to me.
Because they see bodmas as a sequence, so they do everything one step at a time without realising division and multiplication should be done at the same time.
We were taught to break it down into "terms" which are separated by + and/or - and treat each term as brackets. Then the order doesnt matter. So the 1st term would be 3x3, 2nd term would be 3÷3, and the 3rd term would be 3. [3x3] - [3÷3] + 3 It amounts to the same thing, but I always found it easier than Bidmas/pemdas, which can lead to ambiguities and doesnt cover all eventualities.
3 + 3 x 3 - 3 ÷ 3 = ? Thanks to pemdas, you would see that the equation is actually the same as the original (so it equals 11 again), but with your group method you'd have [3 + 3] x [3 - 3] ÷ 3 which would be 0 Pemdas does cover all eventualities if you know what it is and how to use it
"According to modern interpretation." I learned Computer Science in the 1970s and order of execution prioritized multiplication before division, and addition before subtraction. PEMDAS defined correctly. So, 3x3 = 9 then 3/3 = 1 then 1+3 = 4 then 9-4 = 5. The answer is 5.
3 seconds? It takes already 3s to properly read the question! Maybe it is indeed a „trick question“, and the CIO wants to see if the applicant is someone having the guts to tell when something is impossible to do? if he then wants someone with guts or avoid them - we will never know 🤷♀️
3x3=9 3/3=1 9-1=8 8+3=11 To be completely honest, no I couldn't solve in 3 seconds. It took me 5 or 6 seconds. Everything above was typed after seeing the problem and pausing the video before watching the solution and 2 answers that are considered to be incorrect, so the first 4 lines are pretty much redundant to anyone who has already watched the video and seen the solution. I will add that the second incorrect answer is one I could be persuaded to accept if we were still living in the typewriter's glory days, but I can't accept that 1 is a correct answer anymore now that we're near the end of 2024.
Thanks to my grade school teacher for teaching me: Mini-Dresses-Are-Short to learn the order of operations. Yes I was able to get the answer of 11 in about 3 seconds. Thanks for sharing.
I think the problem started with 1970s calculators -- although people not using them properly are really to blame. In order to keep the electronics simple, those simple 4-function calculators only had a two-level stack, and so could only deal with a single calculation step at one time. But because the answer was still on the stack, and available to use immediately in a subsequent step, it was easy to go out-of-order. And even when scientific calculators with deeper stacks -- and therefore, the ability to order operations correctly, within the limits of the stack depth -- became more common, basic models still only used two levels and so did not respect the order of operations. At least with the previous generation of mechanical calculating machines, it had always been necessary to stop and write down the answer before selecting a new mode; so it was natural to follow the order of operations strictly.
It's that division symbol that causes the problem. When you're composing algebraic equations, it simply isn't used. Fractions are denoted by position above/below the line. You don't tend to see that symbol outside of primary school questions. The result is a split between those who never got much beyond that (processing from left to right with no sense of order of operations) and those who did (PEMDAS or its equivalents). I don't think I've seen the middle case before (treating the division symbol as the dividing line between two separate halves) - that seems to be asking for trouble!
There is no interpretation.. there is a right answer and everything else. We didn't put people on the moon with interpretation. Your channel is wrong... in giving people interpretation... "I would suggest this is not the correct answer."- Presh Talwalker. There is no SUGGEST. Just say, "This is the wrong answer."
For me, the most relevant question is whether the CEO concurs with the correct answer. If he thinks the answer is anything other than 11, I don't think I'd want to work there.
Conveniently, if we forget those currently at school, there are three types of person in this world. Those who went to school, those who didn’t go to school, and those who will disagree to troll on the internet. The answer is 11, the rules are simple.
I just do wonder how people mess up with stuff u should have learned and never forgot in around 3rd-6th grad in school .. what did ur teacher has done the whole time ?? Good and easy video. appreciate ur work.
This is definitely an easy problem, but the issue is that having only 3 seconds will cause people to panic and answer wrong. I don't even think 3 seconds is enough time for most people to solve a problem like this even if they know it's coming. I think 7 seconds or something similar would at least be more reasonable.
Please, I emplore you. Stop this Pemdas stuff. It is the 100% responsibility of the questioner to ask the question unambiguously. Pemdas is for clicks only.
@@jakemartinez6894 And yet you take a random 50 persons and ask them to do the calculation and many will get the wrong answer. PEMDAS is an obsolete way of writing mathematical equations that shouldn't have been started, it is dangerous as it makes people arrive to the wrong answer. Write it in (3x3)-(3/3) +3 and everybody will get the answer. Schools should start teaching children the right scientific/mathematical way.
A process control programming that I worked with read left to right and had no order of operations except for parentheses. Left me paranoid about putting paranntheses everywhere…and it now takes me a second to figure out which math ”language” I should be using.
I hate these kinds of problems. Though ugly, these ambiguities can be solved by simply using parentheses. Or better yet, just use the fraction bar instead of the division sign, which causes the confusion the most.
@@coctailrobI think I stopped writing inline division in secondary school. I had a look through my mathematics and engineering formula booklets from school and university a little while ago and there was not a single instance of inline division in all of the many equations and formulae. But of course, a lot of the tools we use (mathematical software, some calculators, computer programming languages) can only take division input using inline operators, so it's still normal for people who use mathematics to actually do things.
To everyone saying they should have used brackets, it would be Redundant to those who understand pemdas. This is not a remedial course. ~Ms Ling, Calc II
PEMDAS is nothing in the scientific and engineering community, they don't use it, becuase that is unnecesarily putting your work in danger. PEMDAS should be abolished from being taught and ahould be taught to write their equations in right mathematical forms.
@MLWJ1993 these would be the so-called “math majors” that overthink problems, bragging that they can calculate differentials in their head. Basically just completely overlooking the simplicity of the problem because there must be some sort of trickery happening as nothing is this simple.
It depends on context and what you normally use for operators I use . for the higher precedence multiplication, and I use / for the higher precedence division I often use the X and ./. for …) x (… And …) / (… So there are four operators, not 2 just drawn differently. That’s why 3 x 3 - 3 would mean 3(3-3) Whereas 3.3 - 3 Wild be (3 x 3) - 3 If you think that’s unconventional, well it is unambiguous to me, and I’ve being doing it for decades.
So, I'm ashamed to admit that I completed a bachelor's degree in math education and was in my first year teaching middle school math before I learned the order of operations correctly thanks to a roommate showing me a viral problem on Facebook. I thought multiplication was always completed before division and addition before subtraction. This hole in my understanding was not significant enough to fail me in my advanced math classes, but I do wonder how much better my grades would have been. 😂 It's too bad none of my teachers diagnosed the hole to fill it, but professors expect college students to know such a simple middle-school concept. How can we prevent holes developing like this? It's obviously a common hole given the viral problems on media. I recommend mastery learning, but it must start from the beginning else assessments must be devised to identify the holes.
I never learned it in school that: 3×3÷3 is 9÷3, my school taught me: 3×3÷3 is 3×1 , btw which one is correct interpretation (idk what its called)? Or both interpretation are correct? Also will it apply the same on addition and subtraction like 3-3+3 is 0+3 not, 3-3+3 is 3+0
Operations with equal weights like ÷ and x or - and + are performed "left to right" by convention, so 3x3÷3 is always (3x3)÷3 and never 3x(3÷3) however it is conceivable that in some countries many years ago they might have taught it differently.
Hello, from Australia! I seem to remember from primary school, BOMDAS (multiplication before division, except if division occurs first from L to R). You have stated it as BODMAS (division before multiplication, etc). However, BOMDAS would be more consistent with PEMDAS as given in your solution . Am I correct, or doesn't it matter which is done first? Also, the "O" of the BOMDAS I learned stood for "of", not for order, exponentials, roots, powers etc - that came later, at high school. A way to solve this problem correctly would be using the rule to insert brackets (parentheses) , as follows: 3 x 3 - 3 /3 +3 = (3 x 3) - (3/3) + 3 = 9 - 1 + 3 = 11 (Sorry, but I can't show the division symbol).
BODMAS and PEMDAS are the same thing. There are lots of variations of the acronym. MD vs DM doesn't change the calculations. It's a 4 step process not a 6 step process. The DM step of BODMAS is identical to the MD step of PEMDAS. No need to apologise for not using the ÷ symbol. The / symbol that you used is the correct mathematical symbol for division.
To make this even more confusing. The calculator app in windows... when in Standard Mode, it calculates from left to right; when in Scientific Mode, it calculates in the order of operations. Good luch trying to explain that to someone who is not very proficient in math.
Unless that back and forth exchange between myself and the interviewer leaves me with the impression that the point of the question was to see if I could recognize ambiguity and explore how I cleared it up, I'm not even remotely interested in that job. I don't know if there's something specific locally there, but I only see that division symbol used by elementary school materials before order of operations is even introduced. I've never run across a style-guide that covers this form of expression. Once you're stringing things along a single line, it's generally a /. So I'm asking for clarification first... What expression style are we using? Is this a series of operations that are being fed into a calculator (since it uses the same symbol as on the calculator)? Cool. That's one answer. If not, is the incongruous choice of division symbol supposed to indicate something different about the parsing? Cool, that points to which of the other two possibilities it is.
2:34 1 month ago, you made a video about 'half of 2+2' and you said in the meaning 1/2*(2+2) it should be pronounced 'half of the sum 2+2'. So shouldn't this be 'all divided by the sum 3+3'?
My friend paddy went for a job interview at this firm and when they asked him this question he told them where to stick their job. He told them he'd come for a job as a labourer not a mathematician, the interviewer said what about counting your wages ,paddy told him straight he didn't have to count his wages they got paid into the bank ,and they had proper counter uppers
As a kid I was taught the PEMDAS method too and the order of the letters was the order of operations. So 3x3-3/3+3 would go to 9-3/3+3 then to 9-1+3 then 9-4 which would be 5. Now I'm left with 3 questions; 1 Was I taught wrong? 2 Do I remember it incorrectly? 3 Didn't I get the memo about Can anyone please tell me?
The correct answer is "This is written in ambiguous notation such that it will confuse a large subset of readers, leading to incorrect answers. As a member of this team I will maintain clear communication without room for speculation or interpretation so that work is completed efficiently and correctly, unlike this problem. Also it's 11."
I'll admit it. It's been over 50 years since I was in school. It's been 30 years since I've written a computer program and I just can't remember the order of operations.
I'm Canadian and the only time I've ever seen this PEMDAS crap is from Americans. I've done shitloads of higher math and not once has a formula been written where the order of operations was an issue. Besides, there are a lot more operations other than those in PEMDAS.
From the wiki divistion sign page ; "The division sign (÷) is a mathematical symbol consisting of a short horizontal line with a dot above and another dot below, used in Anglophone countries to indicate the operation of division. This usage, though widespread in some countries, is not universal and the symbol has a different meaning in other countries. Its use to denote division is not recommended in the ISO 80000-2 standard for mathematical notation.[1]" I would suggest that its not really a PEMDAS problem at all. It is an are you aware of the international standard for mathematical notation question.
Any social media post with titles like "You must be a genius to solve this" or "Only 1% of people can solve this", typically exploits people's ignorance of the order of operations in order to let them fight it out in the comments section, generating a high level of engagement for the poster. The other common theme is to use some formulas with unkowns represented by some symbols (cats, planes, cars, turtles, you name it) and then ask you to figure out what each unknown is but exploit some very subtle variations in the symbols (like maybe one cat has both eyes open but the other has one eye closed) to "catch people out" that these are different unknowns and therefore also generate huge amounts of debate in the comments about who has the correct answer. Easiest way to generate engagement and promote the post to the top of the social media heap.
These questions always amaze me, or better the answers people give. Seeing these kind of interview questions make me hope the people who get the job solved the equation accidently.
Whenever an order of operations problem "goes viral" I regret being a part of this world.
Guess you are vaccinated against this virus
Presh has been posting these for years. Apparently these are supposed to make good math videos. I strongly disagree.
The problem is that here we are nearly two months after the initial story - keeping the streak alive ? Not not so much viral as endemic?
@@toaster4693 Hear hear!
1+2×1!?!?!? ***IMPOSSIBLE 😱😱***
Let's face it, the hardest part is to quickly figure out what 8+3 is.
Uhmm, I don't have any trouble doing it...
I stalled for 1 second to figure out what 8+3 was
I am getting 9+2 😂
Oh I can do that! The answer is 1!
I solved it the moment I saw it so I don't know how long it took me 😢
It's somewhat disheartening that anyone would think this expression is "genius"-level. 😞
@@alhypo The difficulty is the time limit not the equation.
It's not really "genius" level unless it's accompanied by a picture of Albert Einstein.
Getting the question wrong is one issue, but I think solving it in 3 seconds without any kind of primer/context-setting question would require superior intellect.
@@dinklebob1 I thought 3 seconds was quite reasonable. Just looking at the thumbnail, I was already reading it as "9 - 1 + 3" without even thinking, so all I had to spend time on was the addition.
@@MaskOfCinder Well, I didn't time myself. But I got it pretty fast. I would say it took me five seconds. But I was also being pretty careful because I assumed it was a trick question.
I think it's possible I could have arrived at the answer in 3 seconds had I known there was a time limit. And I'm not a genius, as far as I know.
It took more than three seconds just to read the equation. Then of course, it was easy. 11.
Yea the hardest part is the 3 second rule. 30 seconds would be fair, though.
3
I would have told the interviewer, "I don't think this job is a good fit for me. I prefer giving correct answers over meeting arbitrary deadlines." Keep in mind, interviews work both ways. They've just given you an insight into how management thinks.
I agree, but only after giving him the correct answer first!
Unironically this is the perfect response
"All deadlines are arbitrary. The only question is if you are flexible enough to ensure that you meet them."
@@azerdraco3146 "I cannot meet impossible deadlines. I value my health too much."
@@azerdraco3146 Alright smart guy. I need this yesterday! Hop on it!
I really don't want a job where the interview questions are based on this skill level.
If you dont have such s basic skill level you ain't getting any tech job, thats the most basic stuff
@@abgvedr Nah answering a question like this in 3 seconds demonstrates nothing of use.
@@Blade.5786 Demonstrates how active your brain is
@@Blade.5786 Depends on the job. Like maybe NASA? where there may be a crisis with limited time and you need to correctly determine a probes trajectory (using math) so you can safely guide it around the spacestation without smashing into it while also not sending the million dollar probe out of orbit and lost forever.
@@marksmorphs If you compare computing trajectories to figuring out 3*3-3/3+3, you're probably not NASA material either.
“Modern” ? I was taught that order of operations 50 years ago by someone who was my current age at the time. So the “modern” interpretation has been employed for at least a century now.
Its even older than that it goes back to the creation of modern algebraic notation that 1600s.
Am 87 years old, and have never needed that kind of math, and have done a lot of different things.
The point of mathematics is communication. If the order of operations has changed (without the knowledge of many), using math to explain natural phenomena has become very difficult, has it not?
I'm old enough to know it wasn't 50 years ago. I learned it well before that.
I am 71 years old and I absolutely agrre with you
What job is this gonna get?
Imagine losing your best potential candidate over this.
The next question is how to spell 'lose' 😅
If your best candidate can't adapt mentally to solve an easy mathematical problem, what do you think is going to happen when they have to face a serious issue?
Amazing how people fail to understand the real reason for certain questions.
In my last interview the first stage was with HR and a tech guy. His questions were irrelevant. Turns out all that interview did was allow HR to assess my cultural fit based on how I responded.
If you think things are as black and white as that question says, you’ve a lot to learn.
@@X22GJP I get that, but the question my dear old man you see in the video, is a hit or loose question in india. People loose the jobs over that.
As a Marketing director, in hiring season, I see candidates of all types. The people who brought wonders to the company will always fail in this type of questions, they are slow thinkers and high level producers.
Ironically, who are so called "genius", who can answer this questions because they practiced it rather than focusing mainly on their role of job, are assistant to those in the upper
hierarchy and are accountants.
“I’m sorry Mr. Scorsese. You would be the perfect person to direct my new blockbuster movie but you took 4 whole seconds to answer this maths question.”
I want to know what kind of job is it where doing a silly order of operations sequence in 3 seconds makes you more able to do the job than solving the same sequence in 4 seconds.
Well, to be perfectly honest, the guy never said when he started timing the response...
3:25 this is why my teacher in school taught PEMA instead of PEMDAS - to emphasize that multiplication and division have the same priority, and that addition and subtraction have the same priority
I'm curious if your teacher taught you that the obelus is actually a grouping symbol, not merely an operator. It makes the difference between right and wrong (but PEMDAS-friendly) answer!
@padraicbrown6718 by the time we were learning order of operations, we had abandoned that division symbol. I think we only used it in whatever grade we first learned about division, then from there we only used a slash or a fraction to represent division.
I said to myself, "this must be testing for proficiency in the application of the order of operations." Took me 7 seconds to arrive at the correct answer. Not hired.
I don't believe the CEO would be hiring himself either. No way there's many people that see this and can instantly get the answer. He's not going to be hiring too many people and should fire himself.
I'd have to watch the video again to be sure, but I don't think it said the CEO gave a 3 sec time limit. I think that was added afterwards when the problem was on social media.
Having watched this TH-camr for years and truly appreciating their content, I know honestly think that they are scrapping the bottom of their barrel when it comes to content.
There's been a definite drop off in quality recently, hasn't there.
Well, nowadays US zoomers can't name a country outside of the US, so what'cha gonna do? Explain quaternions to normal people?
When you get 11 but did not time yourself so you think….. “man that was probably 4-5 seconds”, but now are doomed to eternal torment of not knowing if you got the job or not 😂
Same, I wish the video didn't spoil it in the thumbnail and only show the question for 3 seconds.
Same. 3.174 seconds here. No job :-(
For me it was over 3 seconds staring wondering why it was just for Genius. Before actually working out I had 3 seconds.
Yeah lol.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure I was over 3 seconds but I'll never know for certain. 😞
Easy yes, 3 seconds no. 5 seconds, ok. (In an interview I'd start explaining my working before completing the answer).
I like to think that I’m very mathematically minded, but there is no way that I could solve this in just 3 seconds; I’d almost certainly panic and make a mistake. Perhaps one person in a thousand could pull it off.
I agree wholeheartedly. Even though I'm pretty good at math, I would absolutely screw up if I was given just 3 seconds. I don't even understand what skill this interview question aims to find. Thinking quickly? Working calmly under pressure? Either way, this just seems like a way to eliminate potentially great candidates who don't have some arbitrary skill like solving a math problem with intentionally bad notation in 3 seconds.
@@Glowing0v3rlord With 1000 ppl competing for this job, the best strategy would be to guess a random smallish integer. 1000 ppl guessing a #
It's a problem where people who are foolish will get the wrong answer, and people who are smart will say, "There is a blatant error in how it's presented," and not get any answer in time, which filters so that the only people who get through are midwits.
...Actually, it makes sense that a hiring interviewer might want to use the question.
It's so nice to see somebody who's honest, I would have gotten this wrong, and my excuse is that I've been out of school for 18 years, and this kind of thing doesn't come up in real life.
I will never know because I saw the question in the thumbnail, almost certainly for more than 3 seconds before I clicked it.
Order of operation math problems are very popular online, but the irony is that real mathematicians try not write equations with such ambiguity. Much more likely to see (3*3) - (3/3) + 3 for the sake of clarity.
I find the order of operations quite straightforward, but I am not quick at mental arithmetic. It took me quite a bit longer than 3 seconds to decide the correct answer was 11, although perhaps that's because I run through everything more than once to double check I'm getting the same answer every time and haven't made a mistake.
Same. I'd rather you get it right, that you race through in 3 seconds. Found way too many times people get things wrong by rushing through and missing things.
Someone who answers this in under 3 seconds hasn't double checked their work.
yea, but they still might get the right answer
if you do it in 1.5s you have enough time to double check.
@@neutronenstern. Even geniuses can’t check their work in 1.5 seconds.
@@MaskOfCinder idk.
its not hard work.
@@neutronenstern. Yes it is. You can’t check your work for an equation like this in less than two seconds. You couldn’t even explain the equation in that short of time.
Darn, it took me 4 seconds. No job, but I never wanted to move to India in the first place.
In that case you've just wasted 4 seconds of your life
I would not work for a company that allows an ambiguous expression like this without parentheses. When the employees make things unnecessarily difficult like this to exalt the cognoscenti with an arcane insider understanding as a union card isn't a scientist or an engineer, but something more like an economist concealing bad analysis with obscurantism.
3 seconds is only hard part, when you are stressed, read question carefully and there is no time for that. It took me little bit more than 5 sec. It is level of 2nd class elementary school (8 y/o kids).
Newsflash - nobody who does math for a living uses that "divided by" sign.
Newsflash: You need to pick more newsworthy flashes…
At least this question doesn't suffer from notational ambiguity like most of the others.
My thoughts exactly
it is a bit ambiguous but not the level most of these have.
The problem is the use of the obelus, that symbol in itself is ambiguos. The meaning can shift depending on wich country you learned your maths in.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Division_sign#:~:text=The%20division%20sign%20(÷)%20is,different%20meaning%20in%20other%20countries.
@rasputinfaux150 is that symbol used anywhere beyond elementary math classes? I can't imagine any scenario where it is not better, less chance of confusion, to use just /. Kids are always asking about math, in general 'where am I ever going to use this?'. In the case of that symnbol, the answer is: nowhere. You will never see it again after grade 7 in school or the real world
@rasputinfaux150 -- Someone gets it! Next stop: Vinculum Land!
Ultimately, order of operations is just an agreed convention. It can't be deduced just from logic or problem solving skills. Which is why it's so successful as an endless online debating point by people who don't realise that.
In a sufficiently large company, the CEO isn't doing any interviewing, except maybe for another C-level role. If I were being interviewed by that guy for such a role, I'd find this kind of question a little suspicious.
Any random dude can start a company of 2 people and call himself the "CEO". I believe if the story were true, then it was one of those companies.
The Superintendent of the school district where I was an HR specialist would personally interview high school Language Arts candidate finalists. He would ask a question that he had made up. He wanted to see how the candidates answered. I’m still conflicted as to whether it was brilliant or deplorable.
No actual mathematician, or anybody using mathematics for any kind of useful work, would ever write an equation like this. So this would tell me straight away that the company is not worth working for. I'd walk out of the interview.
Expression vs Equation. 😊
If you referred to this expression as an equation, I might not hire you even if you completed the interview. :)
@@Rhesa-jc3on BAM!
Its an equation not an expression. An expression is left as such an expression such as πr^2 where if r = 1 then the expression is π. It is an equation because the questionnaire wants to know what it exactly equals by a "=" assumed additional requirement, and thus an equation assumed answer.
I disagree completely because knowing the order of operations is basic math and there’s no mistake in how it was written, I couldn’t believe the answers people were giving as I got 11 immediately because I correctly followed the proper order and you can reverse the process to check your answer, it’s not a sign of of ignorance or stupidity to use it, it’s 100% reliable and justified and it’s peoples lack of knowledge of the math and problem solving skills that have a hard time with it and that’s not the equations fault lol. 😅✌️
For my job interview, they asked me what was the forces that applies to a mining tire and how to define its energy efficiency ... and they didn't consider that it was a question for a genius. I'd like to know what kind of CEO can ask such a trivial question ?!
Proper use of brackets would negate this obvious obfuscation.
If that was really a CEO interview, my 2nd point would be (after saying "11"): whoever gave you this should not work in your company. By standard, you add parentheses to remove any possible confusion, like you would remove most points of confusion in a presentation. If this is how your employees work, I can't imagine the amount of slack and lack of professionalism in the company. Points of confusion in Finance, QA, Marketing/Market analysis, Sales and ops are extremely common, and the last thing a team needs is to spend time on a point of confusion that could be easily avoided. Be clear, be concise, and ensure that the rest of the team can work together to deliver on objectives.
There are many more ways to test the mental agility of an employee than playing on confusing set-up.
I did end up getting the answer almost instantaneously. It being labeled a brain teaser is a little weird.
However, 3 seconds might be a tad short, maybe under 10 seconds with enough to time to process the entire thing without mistakes.
I learned it as PEMDAS. However, it took me a little longer to remember that if the priority is the same, go left to right instead of multiply then divide and add then subtract.
I think we have failed when order of operations goes genius viral
When I was in college in the 90's, there was a movement to seperate the meaning of the ÷ and / symbols. In the equation 3×3-3÷3+3 would be 11, but in 3×3-3/3+3 would indeed be 1.
The Interpretation changes and you're correct
÷ and / are the same. The answer is indeed 1. CEO fired! You just took over the company!
That seems backwards! The ÷ symbol is not formally part of mathematical notation so there is scope to play around with its meaning to get an answer other than 11 here. But the / symbol is the standard inline operator for division, so written as 3×3-3/3+3 the expression can't evaluate to anything other than 11.
@@gavindeane3670 I understand what you are saying, it's not up to me to say this is right or wrong, I'm just passing on what i was tought.
CEO interviewing the candidates himself with a "trick question". Yes, Mahipal of Hindustan Times, we believe you can do it in 3 seconds, double the time that took you to compose the article
I've always hated these order of operations "puzzles". They aren't designed to be interesting nor challenging, but simply to guarantee engagement on social media, because the answer is subject to a (potentially) changing interpretation. And we all know how much people love to aimlessly squabble and bicker!
Order of operation never changes or fluctuates so there is no other interpretation possible, the answer is the answer 100% of the time regardless of who tries to solve it , you follow a very specific predetermined process to get the correct answer
@@harmony331000 That's not true. You're only talking about it in the context of modern K-12 pedagogy predominantly in North America, but there are many places, situations, and historical settings that had used different orders of operations. Even in modern context, there are still operations beyond PEMDAS that have ambiguous ordering, operations that are ambiguous as to whether they fit into PEMDAS or not (such as implicit multiplication by juxtaposition), ambiguities due to limitations in typesetting, and ambiguities due to using convenient shorthand. Even if there was a strict order of operations, as soon as it's written down using text, it becomes a language problem and depends on people interpreting the language.
@@letao12 well those are other completely different systems from different times and culture that do not apply at all to this particular mathematical system…I’m not saying there are not others but in this current situation it is relying on a particular system and problem solving processes.
@@harmony331000 How can you assert the current situation must only be interpreted under one particular system, when you fully acknowledge there are others?
@ 😅wowzers, you’ve misunderstood me completely I think 🤔 but I can confidently say what I said ( & if you can prove me wrong, show me ok) ….because we currently use a standard system for the program & procedure/ process of mathematics that is accepted by everyone globally and taught to our kids all thru school so if you want to get the correct answer to the equation or problem you’re trying to solve it must follow the maths that were used in making the equation in the first place lol there’s lots of different languages out there that are ancient & no longer used and if you tried to figure out what a current word means by using an ancient out of use language you would get the wrong answer according to the teacher teaching you right now and asking that question. I didn’t say these ancient math problem solving processes didn’t exist but that they are not used in the current problem solving procedures & expectations it won’t get you to the correct answer…. You need to know the type of math you are using at the time to get the answer people consider to be right.
For me the hard part is not to figure out that 3*3-3/3+3 is (3*3)-(3/3)+3 it's figuring out what 9-1+3 is lol
I got 5 not due the first answer but more due the operation on 9-1+3 where i did the sum first thinking it was 1+3 and not -1+3
I teach my students to identify the terms and simplify each term. There are three terms here: 3x3, 3/3, and 3. No combination of terms is possible until each term contains no more operations.
Unfortunately, hardly any math classes devote sufficient time to explaining what a term is and how to use it. That’s too bad because if students looked at an expression as a series of terms, order of operations would not be as confusing
Exactly this. This is the entire point of order of operations. It only needs to be taught in order prepare students for understanding that mathematical expressions are made up of "terms" like this.
That understanding should be the goal. Order of operations is just a step on the way to that understanding. Nobody who understands mathematical notation in the real world thinks about "order of operations". That's something that you grow out of by the age of about 12.
"Solve in 3 seconds"
Pressure Locker: Takes 5 min
These puzzles are usually around the division operation/symbol. Would you have used „/„ or „:“, which are the standard symbols used in math programs or handwriting, I would agree with you. But this strange colon-dash symbol, which is not even part of the ascii character set, and the expectation of a trick question, always rises the question if the dash should suggest a fraction dash and as such lower the priority of the operation below addition/subtraction, as you explained with the typewriter issue. Yes, this is not standard math rules, but neither is the symbol you used for division. To me, this is a legacy symbol with a „graphical“ smell - „/„ would be the correct one to me.
It's Kinda amazing how something so simple can look so confusing
how is it confusing?
I don't understand why it is so hard for people to understand that if you have same order of operations, you do them from left to right🙄
Because they see bodmas as a sequence, so they do everything one step at a time without realising division and multiplication should be done at the same time.
We were taught to break it down into "terms" which are separated by + and/or - and treat each term as brackets. Then the order doesnt matter.
So the 1st term would be 3x3, 2nd term would be 3÷3, and the 3rd term would be 3.
[3x3] - [3÷3] + 3
It amounts to the same thing, but I always found it easier than Bidmas/pemdas, which can lead to ambiguities and doesnt cover all eventualities.
3 + 3 x 3 - 3 ÷ 3 = ?
Thanks to pemdas, you would see that the equation is actually the same as the original (so it equals 11 again), but with your group method you'd have [3 + 3] x [3 - 3] ÷ 3 which would be 0
Pemdas does cover all eventualities if you know what it is and how to use it
@@SomeoneYouDontKnowOfficial You have not understood what I wrote. Your equation using my method would be
3 + [3 x 3] - [ 3÷3 ] and that equals 11
"According to modern interpretation." I learned Computer Science in the 1970s and order of execution prioritized multiplication before division, and addition before subtraction. PEMDAS defined correctly. So, 3x3 = 9 then 3/3 = 1 then 1+3 = 4 then 9-4 = 5. The answer is 5.
3 seconds? It takes already 3s to properly read the question! Maybe it is indeed a „trick question“, and the CIO wants to see if the applicant is someone having the guts to tell when something is impossible to do? if he then wants someone with guts or avoid them - we will never know 🤷♀️
3x3=9
3/3=1
9-1=8
8+3=11
To be completely honest, no I couldn't solve in 3 seconds. It took me 5 or 6 seconds.
Everything above was typed after seeing the problem and pausing the video before watching the solution and 2 answers that are considered to be incorrect, so the first 4 lines are pretty much redundant to anyone who has already watched the video and seen the solution.
I will add that the second incorrect answer is one I could be persuaded to accept if we were still living in the typewriter's glory days, but I can't accept that 1 is a correct answer anymore now that we're near the end of 2024.
Thanks to my grade school teacher for teaching me: Mini-Dresses-Are-Short to learn the order of operations. Yes I was able to get the answer of 11 in about 3 seconds. Thanks for sharing.
From the thumbnail:
0 = 3 × 3 - 3 - 3 - 3
1 = 3 ÷ 3 + (3 - 3) × 3
2 = (3 + 3) ÷ 3 + 3 - 3
3 = (3 - 3) ÷ (3 + 3) + 3
4 = 3 ÷ 3 + 3 + 3 - 3
5 = 3 × 3 - 3 ÷ 3 - 3
6 = (3 - 3) × 3 + 3 + 3
7 = 3 × 3 - (3 + 3) ÷ 3
8 = 3 + 3 + (3 + 3) ÷ 3
9 = 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 - 3
10 = 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 ÷ 3
*11 = 3 × 3 - 3 ÷ 3 + 3*
12 = 3 × 3 + 3 + 3 - 3
13 = 3 × 3 + 3 + 3 ÷ 3
14 = 3 × 3 + 3! - 3 ÷ 3
15 = 3 × 3 + 3 × 3 - 3
16 = (3 + 3) × 3 - 3! ÷ 3
17 = (3 + 3) × 3 - 3 ÷ 3
18 = (3 + 3) × 3 - 3 + 3
19 = (3 + 3) × 3 + 3 ÷ 3
20 = (3 + 3) × 3 + 3! ÷ 3
21 = 3 × (3 + 3 + 3 ÷ 3)
22 = 3! × 3 + 3 + 3 ÷ 3
23 = 3! × 3 + 3 + 3! ÷ 3
24 = 3 × (3 × 3 - 3 ÷ 3)
25 = 3 × 3 × 3 - 3! ÷ 3
26 = 3 × 3 × 3 - 3 ÷ 3
27 = 3 × 3 × 3 - 3 + 3
28 = 3 × 3 × 3 + 3 ÷ 3
29 = 3 × 3 × 3 + 3! ÷ 3
30 = (3 × 3 + 3 ÷ 3) × 3
31 = 3! × 3! - 3 - 3! ÷ 3
32 = 3! × 3! - 3 - 3 ÷ 3
33 = (3 + 3) × (3 + 3) - 3
I think the problem started with 1970s calculators -- although people not using them properly are really to blame. In order to keep the electronics simple, those simple 4-function calculators only had a two-level stack, and so could only deal with a single calculation step at one time. But because the answer was still on the stack, and available to use immediately in a subsequent step, it was easy to go out-of-order. And even when scientific calculators with deeper stacks -- and therefore, the ability to order operations correctly, within the limits of the stack depth -- became more common, basic models still only used two levels and so did not respect the order of operations.
At least with the previous generation of mechanical calculating machines, it had always been necessary to stop and write down the answer before selecting a new mode; so it was natural to follow the order of operations strictly.
Anyone notice Presh has π million subscribers?
Nice one
It's that division symbol that causes the problem. When you're composing algebraic equations, it simply isn't used. Fractions are denoted by position above/below the line. You don't tend to see that symbol outside of primary school questions.
The result is a split between those who never got much beyond that (processing from left to right with no sense of order of operations) and those who did (PEMDAS or its equivalents). I don't think I've seen the middle case before (treating the division symbol as the dividing line between two separate halves) - that seems to be asking for trouble!
There is no interpretation.. there is a right answer and everything else. We didn't put people on the moon with interpretation. Your channel is wrong... in giving people interpretation... "I would suggest this is not the correct answer."- Presh Talwalker. There is no SUGGEST. Just say, "This is the wrong answer."
For me, the most relevant question is whether the CEO concurs with the correct answer. If he thinks the answer is anything other than 11, I don't think I'd want to work there.
PEDMAS and BODMAS...sure, but am I the only one that learned it as BEDMAS?
Brackets, Exponents...
Bracket
Over dividing
Multiplication
Addition
Subtraction
Bodmas.
That's how we were taught it in school in England in the 90s
Took me about 11 seconds. Buddy is going to be doing a lot of interviews if 3 seconds is the bar😅
11
The answer is purple
Sorry, there were 11 likes and i made it 12 😂
Conveniently, if we forget those currently at school, there are three types of person in this world. Those who went to school, those who didn’t go to school, and those who will disagree to troll on the internet. The answer is 11, the rules are simple.
I just do wonder how people mess up with stuff u should have learned and never forgot in around 3rd-6th grad in school .. what did ur teacher has done the whole time ??
Good and easy video. appreciate ur work.
This is definitely an easy problem, but the issue is that having only 3 seconds will cause people to panic and answer wrong. I don't even think 3 seconds is enough time for most people to solve a problem like this even if they know it's coming. I think 7 seconds or something similar would at least be more reasonable.
@@Glowing0v3rlord ya okay in pov u are 100% right but mean more general bout easy math rules u will llearn in math around 3rd and 6th grad
The Obelus should be avoided and you should use a fraction to write a division, specifically to avoid that kind of ambiguity.
You mean for people with basic math knowledge ?
Poorly written problems invite mistakes.
Please, I emplore you. Stop this Pemdas stuff. It is the 100% responsibility of the questioner to ask the question unambiguously. Pemdas is for clicks only.
The order of operations is to remove ambiguity… it’s your fault for not understanding it.
@@jakemartinez6894 And yet you take a random 50 persons and ask them to do the calculation and many will get the wrong answer. PEMDAS is an obsolete way of writing mathematical equations that shouldn't have been started, it is dangerous as it makes people arrive to the wrong answer. Write it in (3x3)-(3/3) +3 and everybody will get the answer. Schools should start teaching children the right scientific/mathematical way.
A process control programming that I worked with read left to right and had no order of operations except for parentheses. Left me paranoid about putting paranntheses everywhere…and it now takes me a second to figure out which math ”language” I should be using.
I hate these kinds of problems. Though ugly, these ambiguities can be solved by simply using parentheses. Or better yet, just use the fraction bar instead of the division sign, which causes the confusion the most.
Back in the mid-90s when I was at uni, it was kind of an untold rule to not use that divide-by symbol.
@@coctailrobI think I stopped writing inline division in secondary school. I had a look through my mathematics and engineering formula booklets from school and university a little while ago and there was not a single instance of inline division in all of the many equations and formulae.
But of course, a lot of the tools we use (mathematical software, some calculators, computer programming languages) can only take division input using inline operators, so it's still normal for people who use mathematics to actually do things.
Can I buy a vowel?
To everyone saying they should have used brackets, it would be Redundant to those who understand pemdas.
This is not a remedial course.
~Ms Ling, Calc II
PEMDAS is nothing in the scientific and engineering community, they don't use it, becuase that is unnecesarily putting your work in danger. PEMDAS should be abolished from being taught and ahould be taught to write their equations in right mathematical forms.
If I had only 3 seconds to solve I would stare my boss directly in the eye and just say "3" because I'd assume it was a word puzzle.
That's why brackets are convenient. Preventing all those misinterpretations
Absolutely!
Order of precedence is multiplication first, then division, then solve from left to right.
3x3-3/3+3 drops to 9-1+3 =11
Instead of asking for a solution in 10 seconds, the CEO should be asking in 10 seconds for the applicant to put the brackets in the correct place
I’m surprised no one tried to incorrectly factor the ‘3’ out of the equation first, leaving just 3(1x1-1/1+1) which would equal ‘3’
Wait, how would one even think to factor "3" out of the equation? 🤔
All the others I can easily understand, because of some common misunderstanding...
@MLWJ1993 these would be the so-called “math majors” that overthink problems, bragging that they can calculate differentials in their head. Basically just completely overlooking the simplicity of the problem because there must be some sort of trickery happening as nothing is this simple.
The problem is ho hum. Even in 3 seconds.
But the English?😮
It should be
“Only for a Genius”
Or
“Only for Geniuses”
😅
I still don't understand how anyone can get this wrong.
This is why parentheses are used.
It depends on context and what you normally use for operators
I use . for the higher precedence multiplication, and I use / for the higher precedence division
I often use the X and ./. for
…) x (…
And
…) / (…
So there are four operators, not 2 just drawn differently.
That’s why 3 x 3 - 3 would mean
3(3-3)
Whereas 3.3 - 3
Wild be (3 x 3) - 3
If you think that’s unconventional, well it is unambiguous to me, and I’ve being doing it for decades.
You can invent whatever language you like when the only person you need to communicate with is yourself.
Enter the numbers as presented in the problem into the Microsoft calculator, the answer is 11.
no wonder Ramaswamy says the US is in trouble, if this type of problem is stumping people.
So, I'm ashamed to admit that I completed a bachelor's degree in math education and was in my first year teaching middle school math before I learned the order of operations correctly thanks to a roommate showing me a viral problem on Facebook. I thought multiplication was always completed before division and addition before subtraction. This hole in my understanding was not significant enough to fail me in my advanced math classes, but I do wonder how much better my grades would have been. 😂 It's too bad none of my teachers diagnosed the hole to fill it, but professors expect college students to know such a simple middle-school concept. How can we prevent holes developing like this? It's obviously a common hole given the viral problems on media. I recommend mastery learning, but it must start from the beginning else assessments must be devised to identify the holes.
These types of questions are usually asked when you claim a prize by answering a ‘skill testing” question?
I never learned it in school that:
3×3÷3 is 9÷3, my school taught me:
3×3÷3 is 3×1 , btw which one is correct interpretation (idk what its called)? Or both interpretation are correct?
Also will it apply the same on addition and subtraction like
3-3+3 is 0+3 not,
3-3+3 is 3+0
Operations with equal weights like ÷ and x or - and + are performed "left to right" by convention, so 3x3÷3 is always (3x3)÷3 and never 3x(3÷3) however it is conceivable that in some countries many years ago they might have taught it differently.
How could 3×3÷3 be 3÷1? There is no way the divisor can be anything other than 3.
@@gavindeane3670 sorry my bad!
Hello, from Australia! I seem to remember from primary school, BOMDAS (multiplication before division, except if division occurs first from L to R). You have stated it as BODMAS (division before multiplication, etc). However, BOMDAS would be more consistent with PEMDAS as given in your solution . Am I correct, or doesn't it matter which is done first? Also, the "O" of the BOMDAS I learned stood for "of", not for order, exponentials, roots, powers etc - that came later, at high school. A way to solve this problem correctly would be using the rule to insert brackets (parentheses) , as follows:
3 x 3 - 3 /3 +3 = (3 x 3) - (3/3) + 3 = 9 - 1 + 3 = 11 (Sorry, but I can't show the division symbol).
BODMAS and PEMDAS are the same thing. There are lots of variations of the acronym.
MD vs DM doesn't change the calculations. It's a 4 step process not a 6 step process. The DM step of BODMAS is identical to the MD step of PEMDAS.
No need to apologise for not using the ÷ symbol. The / symbol that you used is the correct mathematical symbol for division.
To make this even more confusing. The calculator app in windows...
when in Standard Mode, it calculates from left to right;
when in Scientific Mode, it calculates in the order of operations.
Good luch trying to explain that to someone who is not very proficient in math.
I got 11 but my brain doesn't work fast enough to get it in 3 seconds, it was more like 10 seconds.. LOL
Unless that back and forth exchange between myself and the interviewer leaves me with the impression that the point of the question was to see if I could recognize ambiguity and explore how I cleared it up, I'm not even remotely interested in that job.
I don't know if there's something specific locally there, but I only see that division symbol used by elementary school materials before order of operations is even introduced. I've never run across a style-guide that covers this form of expression. Once you're stringing things along a single line, it's generally a /.
So I'm asking for clarification first... What expression style are we using?
Is this a series of operations that are being fed into a calculator (since it uses the same symbol as on the calculator)? Cool. That's one answer.
If not, is the incongruous choice of division symbol supposed to indicate something different about the parsing? Cool, that points to which of the other two possibilities it is.
2:34 1 month ago, you made a video about 'half of 2+2' and you said in the meaning 1/2*(2+2) it should be pronounced 'half of the sum 2+2'. So shouldn't this be 'all divided by the sum 3+3'?
My friend paddy went for a job interview at this firm and when they asked him this question he told them where to stick their job.
He told them he'd come for a job as a labourer not a mathematician, the interviewer said what about counting your wages ,paddy told him straight he didn't have to count his wages they got paid into the bank ,and they had proper counter uppers
As a kid I was taught the PEMDAS method too and the order of the letters was the order of operations. So 3x3-3/3+3 would go to 9-3/3+3 then to 9-1+3 then 9-4 which would be 5.
Now I'm left with 3 questions; 1 Was I taught wrong? 2 Do I remember it incorrectly? 3 Didn't I get the memo about
Can anyone please tell me?
The correct answer is "This is written in ambiguous notation such that it will confuse a large subset of readers, leading to incorrect answers. As a member of this team I will maintain clear communication without room for speculation or interpretation so that work is completed efficiently and correctly, unlike this problem. Also it's 11."
I'll admit it. It's been over 50 years since I was in school. It's been 30 years since I've written a computer program and I just can't remember the order of operations.
Another one of those that's unsolveable because they're using the ÷ sign instead of writing division like a sane person.
British people do not have a problem with this. We don't use PEMDAS. We just learn how to do math, right. Okay?
I'm Canadian and the only time I've ever seen this PEMDAS crap is from Americans. I've done shitloads of higher math and not once has a formula been written where the order of operations was an issue. Besides, there are a lot more operations other than those in PEMDAS.
From the wiki divistion sign page ;
"The division sign (÷) is a mathematical symbol consisting of a short horizontal line with a dot above and another dot below, used in Anglophone countries to indicate the operation of division. This usage, though widespread in some countries, is not universal and the symbol has a different meaning in other countries. Its use to denote division is not recommended in the ISO 80000-2 standard for mathematical notation.[1]"
I would suggest that its not really a PEMDAS problem at all. It is an are you aware of the international standard for mathematical notation question.
The CEO is weeding out dummies. If you can't solve the math problem, then you don't get the job.
Definitely got this at a glance. Very basic order of operations problem.
I'll bet a nickel the person who demands this be done in 3 seconds never did it that fast.
Any social media post with titles like "You must be a genius to solve this" or "Only 1% of people can solve this", typically exploits people's ignorance of the order of operations in order to let them fight it out in the comments section, generating a high level of engagement for the poster.
The other common theme is to use some formulas with unkowns represented by some symbols (cats, planes, cars, turtles, you name it) and then ask you to figure out what each unknown is but exploit some very subtle variations in the symbols (like maybe one cat has both eyes open but the other has one eye closed) to "catch people out" that these are different unknowns and therefore also generate huge amounts of debate in the comments about who has the correct answer. Easiest way to generate engagement and promote the post to the top of the social media heap.
The CEO is weeding out dummies ...
Those font choice had me seeing half of those 3’s as 5’s for some reason.
Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally. (Parentheses, Exponents,Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction.)
One doesn't need to be a genius to know the order of operations, but most people don't.
These questions always amaze me, or better the answers people give. Seeing these kind of interview questions make me hope the people who get the job solved the equation accidently.
What is the next step of the operation
Nailed it. Took me slightly more than three seconds, but, I’m 57. Lol