Question

-3[7-5(4-8)] I'm confused. I subtracted 5 from 7 first. And then when I found out you're not I thought it should be -5 times 4 but you ignore the - in front of 5. Why?

Answer 1

we have priorities in maths.
That is Brackets Priorities.
First we solve () the curvy ones, then the cascade ones [ ] nd finally the curly ones.

So you should solve (4-8) first then what will be left inside [ ] and finally multiply that with -3.

Answer 2

curly ones { }*

Answer 3

So then after you get -4 shouldn't you subtract 5 from 7 because it's in teh brackets?

Answer 4

no!!
first solve whatever is inside the curved brackets in your case its (4-8) ryt??
do the math and you get (-4) don't remove the bracket yet..

now your equation has been reduced to -3[7 - 5(-4)] ryt??

Answer 5

first ttell me if you understand this much or not then i'll continue..

Answer 6

Yes I understand that part!

Answer 7

we still have one curved bracket to solve f u look carefully before we jump to solving the bold ones!!!

so lets solve that first -3[7-5(-4)]

solve 5(-4) first which equals -20..

so the reduced equations is now -3[7-(-20] = -3[-7+20]

get it??