BIDMASA self marking exercise testing the application of BIDMAS, an acronym describing the order of operations used when evaluating expressions. |
This is level 2; Evaluate the simple expressions using the correct order of operations. You can earn a trophy if you get at least 9 correct and you do this activity online.
InstructionsTry your best to answer the questions above. Type your answers into the boxes provided leaving no spaces. As you work through the exercise regularly click the "check" button. If you have any wrong answers, do your best to do corrections but if there is anything you don't understand, please ask your teacher for help. When you have got all of the questions correct you may want to print out this page and paste it into your exercise book. If you keep your work in an ePortfolio you could take a screen shot of your answers and paste that into your Maths file. |
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AnswersThere are answers to this exercise but they are available in this space to teachers, tutors and parents who have logged in to their Transum subscription on this computer. A Transum subscription unlocks the answers to the online exercises, quizzes and puzzles. It also provides the teacher with access to quality external links on each of the Transum Topic pages and the facility to add to the collection themselves. Subscribers can manage class lists, lesson plans and assessment data in the Class Admin application and have access to reports of the Transum Trophies earned by class members. If you would like to enjoy ad-free access to the thousands of Transum resources, receive our monthly newsletter, unlock the printable worksheets and see our Maths Lesson Finishers then sign up for a subscription now: Subscribe |
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Level 1 - Click on the operations in the correct order.
Level 2 - Evaluate the simple expressions using the correct order of operations.
Level 3 - Drag the brackets onto the calculations to make them correct.
Level 4 - Evaluate the harder expressions using the correct order of operations.
Level 5 - Find the number that exploded in each of these calculations.
Missing Operations - Try this Starter of the Day and decide what mathematical operations are required.
Misconception - A video explaining a BIDMAS problem which went viral on Twitter.
X Divided by 2Y - A Maths Lesson Starter based on the BIDMAS misconception.
BIDMAS Game - A game for two or more players making BIDMAS calculations to claim squares on a grid.
Barmy BIDMAS - An Advanced Lesson Starter about a misleading way of stating the answer to a simple calculation.
Don't wait until you have finished the exercises before you click on the 'Check' button. Click it often as you work through the questions to see if you are answering them correctly. You can double-click the 'Check' button to make it float at the bottom of your screen.
BIDMAS is an acronym reminding pupils of the order of operation used when evaluating expressions involving a number of different operations. The letters of BIDMAS stand for:
When only addition and subtraction (or only multiplication and division) are left in an expression you should work them out in the order you find them, starting from the left and working towards the right. The blue image of the letters above has been designed to show that multiplication and division have the same importance as the letter M is in the same position as the letter D. The same can be said for the letters A and S.
For example, to evaluate the expression 32 + 5 x 7 - (4 - 3)
Work out the brackets first which gives 32 + 5 x 7 - 1
Then the indices 9 + 5 x 7 - 1
Then the multiplication 9 + 35 - 1
Then the addition and subtraction in the order they are given
The answer is 43
PEMDAS is an alternative acronym.
Don't wait until you have finished the exercise before you click on the 'Check' button. Click it often as you work through the questions to see if you are answering them correctly. You can double-click the 'Check' button to make it float at the bottom of your screen.
Answers to this exercise are available lower down this page when you are logged in to your Transum account. If you don’t yet have a Transum subscription one can be very quickly set up if you are a teacher, tutor or parent.
The acronym BIDMAS (Brackets, Indices, Division and Multiplication, Addition and Subtraction) is used in the UK and some other regions. Other countries use different acronyms with the same purpose:
All these acronyms serve the same purpose: to ensure consistent interpretation of the order of operations in mathematical expressions. The differences mainly come down to regional terminology and slight variations in grouping symbols or terminology for powers.
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Kai,
Monday, March 20, 2017
"Knowing BIDMAS may help you win prizes in game shows!
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Transum,
Thursday, June 13, 2019
"I have just noticed something I hadn’t realised about the Windows calculator. When running in standard mode it operates LTR (2+3x5=25) while in scientific mode it obeys the normal order of operations (2+3x5=17). Worth knowing when learning about BIDMAS or PEMDAS
"Dave Grochocki, Twitter
Sunday, June 16, 2019
Natalie M. Capps, @NatalieMCapps
Friday, November 4, 2022
"I haven’t heard of BIMDAS. We use GEMDAS to be Groupings then Exponents followed by Mult/Divide from left to right and finish with Add/Subtract from left to right. MDAS happens in order inside groupings.
I’m in the US, Virginia to be exact. It was PEMDAS when I was a kid and when I started teaching. Within the last 5-10 years, it’s switched in our area to GEMDAS as a way to prep vocabulary and thinking for more advanced math courses that go beyond simple parentheses."