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Is there ever a situation where you shouldn't use BODMAS?

3 years ago

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15 Replies

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Ward Pacocha



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15 Answers

David B Profile Picture
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Not when calculating with numbers, it should always be used.

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Gemma W Profile Picture
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No, you should always use BODMAS.

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Shreya Profile Picture
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No, always use BODMAS.

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Jeremy Cai

For the content covered in secondary education i.e up to A-level Further Maths, we should always use BODMAS. However, when we get to more complicated mathematical structures i.e not the set of reals, there may be instances when BODMAS cannot be used, but those instances will define not to use it if this is the case.

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Vicky Miller

Never. BODMAS is always the order of operations.

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Sri Teja Challa

yes, for example if we do not use brackets or exponents but just use a simpler expression like 1-3+2. If we generally follow BODMAS, the answer is incorrect

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BODMAS/BIDMAS (brackets, indices or orders, division, multiplication, addition, subtraction) should always be applied in this order when solving any tasks is maths.

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Jill Profile Picture
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YES. In BODMAS you should do addition first but if only subtraction and addition are in the question then you must do the subtraction first.

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Courtney Ellis

There aren't really any exceptions to the BODMAS hierarchy but there are a couple of special cases involving the order of the calculation.

One is where you get an exponent inside a bracketed part of the calculation, such as:

25 + (5 Γ— 4^2+ 7)

Although brackets would usually come first over orders. Within the bracketed part of the sum, the orders(the squared number) takes priority over everything else so we resolve that first.

25 + (5 Γ— 16+ 7)


You would then complete the calculation as normal.

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Evan

Actually no! Every situation should rely on this convention.

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Adefuye Adetayo Olugbenga

Well, BODMAS is limited to simple Algebra and fractions.

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Sebastian Ring

There may be times when solving simultaneous equations where it is easier to collect like terms first. Therefore you would do addition before multiplication, however, when it comes to solving the equation you would still use BODMAS. That is always the correct order to solve an equation.

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Georgia Corscadden

If BODMAS, doesn’t work. Try BIDMAS. Same approach same correct answer :)

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Ritheni Srissanthirarasa

When deciding between multiplying and dividing, you do what is written first reading the calculation left to right. This is a common misconception.

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Christian Chukwudi Modebe

In mathematics, BODMAS is a fundamental rule for evaluating mathematical expressions correctly. However, there are a few situations where strict adherence to BODMAS might be reinterpreted or adjusted:


1. Functions and Nested Operations: When dealing with functions (like trigonometric, logarithmic, or exponential functions), the operations inside the functions are evaluated first, not necessarily following BODMAS strictly. 


2. Matrix Multiplication: In the context of matrices, multiplication may not always follow the BODMAS rule in the traditional sense. The order of multiplication is crucial, and matrices are not commutative (i.e. AxB not= AxB in general).

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