Stephanie O. answered • 03/17/20
Familiar with K-8 Common Core Math
In order to solve an order of operations problem, I use the following acronym: GEMDAS. The G stands for grouping, which means to solve anything within parenthesis () first, so I would first solve (25-4) because it is in a group (). 25-4 is 21 so then I rewrite the problem as 21+(20+19)-5.
Next I solve the next grouping, which is (20+19) to get a sum of 39. So now my problem is 21+39-5.
The E of GEMDAS stands for exponents, which I do not have in my problem. The M and D stand for multiplication and division, which I also do not have in the current problem. However, if I were to have any multiplication or division signs, I would work the problem left to right because the MD are interchangable.
The A of GEMDAS represents addition, and the S represents subtraction. These two operations are also done in order of LEFT to RIGHT instead of addition first and then subtraction.
Looking at my problem left to right, I would find the sum of 21+39 to get 60 and then subtract that number by 5 to get a final answer of 55.
