Order of Operations

Math has a defined and precise order of operations that must be followed for problems to come out correctly. Calculators are programmed with the order of operations. Students have to learn them!

Most students learn the acronym PEMDAS to remember the order of operations.  PEMDAS stands for:

1st do Parentheses (do operations in parentheses first -- following PEMDAS inside the parentheses!  Do nested parentheses from the most nested (deepest inside the parentheses) to the least nested)