Topic 7

Order of operations: BEDMAS

When a question has several operations, everyone follows the same order: Brackets, Exponents, Division and Multiplication, then Addition and Subtraction.

Class slides 82–87

How to answer questions

Work inside brackets first, then evaluate exponents.
Do division and multiplication from left to right.
Do addition and subtraction from left to right. Rewrite the expression after each step.

Worked example

(8 + 10) + 4² × 2= 18 + 16 × 2= 18 + 32 = 50

Brackets, exponent, multiplication, then addition.

How to prepare

Write “B E DM AS” at the top of your practice page. Do one operation per line so you can see where a mistake happens.

Watch out: Division does not always come before multiplication. They share a level, so go left to right. The same is true for addition and subtraction.

Try it:

Calculate 24 ÷ 3 × 2 + 5.

I can do this

Show answer

Go left to right for division and multiplication: 24 ÷ 3 = 8, then 8 × 2 = 16, then 16 + 5 = 21.

More practice · 3 questions

Try all three before you open the solutions.

Warm-up

Evaluate 8 + 3 × 4.

Show solution

Multiply before adding: 3 × 4 = 12. Then 8 + 12 = 20.

Practice

Evaluate (12 − 4)² ÷ 2.

Show solution

Do the brackets: 12 − 4 = 8. Then the exponent: 8² = 64. Finally divide: 64 ÷ 2 = 32.

Challenge

Evaluate 30 ÷ 5 × 3 − 2.

Show solution

Division and multiplication go left to right: 30 ÷ 5 = 6, then 6 × 3 = 18. Finally 18 − 2 = 16.