I wrote a (very long) blog post about those viral math problems and am looking for feedback, especially from people who are not convinced that the problem is ambiguous.
It’s about a 30min read so thank you in advance if you really take the time to read it, but I think it’s worth it if you joined such discussions in the past, but I’m probably biased because I wrote it :)
It’s not ambiguos nor an communication problem, it’s basic Math
You should read the part about WolframAlpha in the blog.
https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=6%2Fxy+where+x%3D2%2C+y%3D3
https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=6%2Fx*(y)+where+x%3D2%2C+y%3D3
Heyoooooo
Now you changed it to an explicit multiplication. The ambiguity only comes from the implicit multiplication after a division, that’s when the interpretation can be ambiguous. That’s what the blog post really is about.
Both of those screenshots, the input is a fraction, thereby removing the ambiguity. But when you use the division symbol, an ambiguity arises. This is why you should never, for any reason, use a division symbol.
Division doesn’t mean fraction. Division is 2 terms, a fraction is 1 term. Terms are separated by operators and joined by grouping symbols. If you change the division to a fraction you change the number of terms and change the answer (and you also would’ve just done division before brackets, which violates the order of operations rules).
…he literally used the
÷operator in the top screenshot. WolframAlpha interprets it as synonymous with/.When putting in ambiguous inputs to WolframAlpha, it does its best to interpret it so that it’s can give an answer, and it shows you underneath how it interpreted it. That doesn’t mean there wasn’t any ambiguity to begin with.
Right. I’m saying both / and ÷ are ambiguous in that context. WA interprets both symbols as having equivalent meaning.
The wrong meaning. It interprets them both as a fraction bar, thus giving the wrong answer.
And WolframAlpha did division before brackets (turned 6/2 into a fraction, thus making it a single term instead of separate terms, all before doing brackets), thus violating the order of operations rules.