A School Math Problem Sowed Discord Online

A school-level math problem sparked debates online.

A Twitter user with the handle pjmdolI asked others for help solving a math problem. Users in the comments split into two camps, each confident in the correctness of their answer.

She posted a picture of a classroom where the problem was written on the board: "8 ÷ 2 (2+2) = ?". Many users tried to help her, but it soon became clear that not everyone arrived at the same answer.
Users divided into two groups: some claimed that the correct answer was 16, while others said it was 1. They performed division and multiplication in different orders, which led to differing answers.

Opinions were divided because some prioritized multiplication while others prioritized division, although they all correctly handled the parentheses. Due to the arguments over whose answer was correct, people quarreled and wished each other to go back to elementary school. One user stated that their math teacher taught them to do multiplication first, while another claimed that multiplication and division take precedence over addition and subtraction, and are equal in priority, solved in the order they appear in the problem. Several other commenters stated that such a problem would not be given in a real school because the example is incorrect.

pjmdolI herself noted that her order of operations looks like this: parentheses first, then multiplication, then division. Accordingly, she believes the correct answer is 1.

User questionablmark suggested that in this case, both answers could be considered correct. In his opinion, it all depends on which system was taught in school. He noted that there are two common systems worldwide that determine the order of operations in math problems. In one, multiplication takes precedence, while in the other, division does.

What do you think is the correct answer? Share your thoughts in the comments.