The rules of order of operations describe the sequence of operations used to evaluate an expression.

The two main rules are as follows:

A. Perform operations inside parentheses first. When there are nested parentheses, evaluate innermost parentheses first and "work outwards".

B. When evaluating an expression inside of parentheses (or when there are no parentheses) evaluate in the following order:

These rules are used so that anyone who evaluates an expression will attain the same result.

2 + 3 x 4

Although it may seem natural to add the two the three first, the rules of order of operation tell us to multiply the three and the four first.

If you wanted to write the expression so that the two and the three are added first, write the 2 + 3 in parentheses. Operations inside parentheses must be done first.

Try example two above, then check your solution.

Try example three above, then check your solution.