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
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.
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.
…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.
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