Arithmetic Grade Six

Lesson Forty-six: Multiplication and Parentheses

Remember that you do multiplication before addition or subtraction. Consider the following examples. 

	5 x 3 + 4 = 19

	5 x (3 + 4) = 35

	9 - 2 x 3 = 3

	(4 - 2) x 3 = 6
Why do the following two problems have the same answer? 

	4 x 3 + 3 = 15

	(4 x 3) + 3 = 15
The reason that these two problems have the answer is that the parentheses are not necessary. We already do the multiplication first and so the parentheses don't change a thing.

Here's another example: 


	3 + 6 x 4 = 27

	(3 + 6) x 4 = 36
Here the parentheses do make a difference.

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