Kiki J.

asked • 12/08/17

Following PEMDAS, how do you solve 7/7/8

7 divided by 7 divided by 8

Kenneth S.

Without parentheses, it's 1/8 but what is most likely is that it's intended to be a problem involving division by a fraction, i.e. 7 ÷ (7/8) which is equal to 8.
 
Tutors should have pointed out the need for parenthesization to remove ambiguity.
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12/09/17

Andrew M.

If we are working a PEMDAS problem and have
7÷7÷8
Then we get 1/8
 
But you are correct that lack of grouping parenthesis in posts is a constant problem.
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12/09/17

2 Answers By Expert Tutors

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Andrew M. answered • 12/08/17

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You stated this was 7 divided by 7 divided by 8 .. NOT 7 divided by 7/8 so:::
 
PEMDAS
 
After completing any parenthesis and exponents, of which there are none in this expression,
we move onto multiplication & division done in order left to right
 
7/7/8 = 1/8 or 0.125
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Andy C. answered • 12/08/17

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Think of it like this:
 
 
  7                     7
----- divided by ----
  1                     8
 
 7        8
---  x  ---- <----    remember when dividing fractions, KFC: Keep , Flip, Change
 1         7
 
The 7s cancel out. 
So the answer is 8. 
 
CHECK: opposite of division is multiplication.
 
8  x 7/8 = 7
 
 
 
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