A simple arithmetical challenge.

[Tiberius]

I found a load of people arguing over the answer to this one on Facebook, so I thought it might be good to see how many people know the answer here.

What is: 3 + 3 x 3 - 3 + 3?

Please use hide tags when answering, so people don't see the answer before they work it out.

If you don't want to work it out, the answer is below:

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3 + 3 x 3 - 3 + 3 = 12

The order of operations in mathematics, when parentheses / brackets aren't involved, is: multiplication / division, and then addition / subtraction.

So first you multiply the 3 x 3 to get 9.

3 + 9 - 3 + 3

Then just add / subtract the terms one by one from left to right.

12 - 3 + 3

9 + 3

12

If you don't believe me, Wolfram Alpha works it out for you: http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=3+%...+-+3+%2B+3

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