Order of Operations

In Mathematics, “operations” are addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, exponentiation (written as ), and grouping.

-  When there is more than one math operation in an expression, use PEMDAS:

(to memorize this rule, remember the phrase “Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally”.)
Parentheses
Exponents
Multiplication and Division (from left to right)
Addition and Subtraction (from left to right)

Examples:

Example 1.  Calculate.
Solution: First, simplify inside parentheses:

, Then:

Example 2.  Solve.
Solution: First, calculate within parentheses: , Then:

Example 3.  Calculate.
Solution: First, calculate within parentheses:


multiply and . Then:

Example 4.  Solve.
Solution: First, calculate within parentheses:

Then: