Originally Posted by
The Inevitable
BS degree, here.... and minored in Mathematics. First the question is poorly written because it's in single line form. It should be written formatically as not to cause any confusion. However, since it is in single line form, anything after that division symbol is considered to be the denominator.
Denominator - The expression written below the line in a common fraction that indicates the number of parts into which one whole is divided. Ex. 3/6; 6 is the denominator
You must find the product of the denominator in that equation, before you can proceed to divide the 48. The product of the denominator is 24. So, 48 divided by 24 equals 2.
I've read through most this thread and I've seen people complaining about folks adding in an extra parentheses to get 2. If you arriving at 288, you're doing the exact same thing. You're putting the extra parentheses here: (48/2)(9+3).
So in conclusion, like I said before along with 2 others, the question is written poorly. The mistake is on the teacher or whoever posed the question. But since it is a single line equation, the answer is 2. However, even at a college level, enough kids approaching the professor with an answer of 288 would have gotten credit. (Unless the professor's an asshole.)
It's giving that answer because you're inputting it wrongly into the calculator. You need to use another set of parentheses.