financebuff
New member
- Joined
- Nov 10, 2011
- Messages
- 1
My question involves the order of simplification for an equation with a plus or minus sign outside of parenthesis when the equation involves a fraction. So here's my example: -(1/2)(-1+1) +1. So I know to solve, I start from left to right. Do I solve keeping the minus sign on the outside of the equation until the multiplication & addition have been competed, adding it in to the final answer as a last step, in this manner: - (1/2)(0)+1 = -(0)+1 =1, or solve to remove parenthesis first, in the following manner: -1/2(-1+1) +1 = -1/2(0) +1 = 1?
So in this instance, although both answers I've arrived at are the same, my question about order relates the same concept when it occurs in longer linear equations, because I know that for those more involved equations, the difference between following pemdas or going straight left-to-right is the difference between a right & wrong answer so I want to understand the concept now before I move forward.
So in this instance, although both answers I've arrived at are the same, my question about order relates the same concept when it occurs in longer linear equations, because I know that for those more involved equations, the difference between following pemdas or going straight left-to-right is the difference between a right & wrong answer so I want to understand the concept now before I move forward.