Can someone Please explain this inequality?

[kookymunstar]

It is understood (with the help of a calculator) that the following are true: 2(2)/5(2)=(2(2)/5)2=2(2)²/5=2(2/5)2=8/5

Why is 2(2)/5(2) ≠ 4/10 = 2/5 ?

It just seems so that 2x2/5x2 = 4/10

What am I not understanding here?

I took a look at the order of operations and that hasn't revealed anything.

Thank you in advance for any help.

 

[tkhunny]

2 * 2 / 5 * 2

The strictest application of the Order of Operations suggests that Multiplication and Division are the SAME precedence and are to be evaluated left-to-right. The above expression is equivalent to the expression below.

(((2 * 2) / 5) * 2)

 

[kookymunstar]

Thank you for clearing that up...whoo. The finer details yes-I get lost in them.

It's now clear to me especially after slowly reading the problem aloud: 2 times 2 ... divided by 5 ... times 2
leads me to the correct order of operations.

2*2 =4

/5 =0.8

*2 =1.6 (same as 8/5)

Once again thanks for the clarification! YOU ROCK!!!