This maths question is destroying group chats, so what is 60÷5(7-4)?

Right now there’s a maths question going viral on Twitter, which has apparently divided a group chat as people are getting different answers to the sum. The question is 60÷5(7-4), so yes, it’s another maths equation which is sending us all crazy.

But it’s not just Twitter losing its mind over this sum. Since it was first posted, the equation has made its way to TikTok, Reddit forums and YouTube videos – all with people explaining how they got to their answer.

So, what is it? Here’s the answer and why everyone is fighting over different results.

Ok, what is 60÷5(7-4) = ?

There seems to be two answers everyone is getting, either four or 36. People who get four have been doing the brackets first, which is correct, and simplifying the sum down to 60÷5(3). Then they have been expanding out the last part of the sum again, and getting 60÷15, which equals four.

However, there is an error in this working out. By the rules of BODMAS or PEDMAS – whichever you were taught at school – once you’ve expanded the brackets out, you should do the division in the sum before the multiplication. So you should go from 60÷5(3) to 12(3) which equals 36.

If you put the question into Google’s calculator, it too will give you an answer of 36.

One guy on TikTok took the question out to the public and asked someone to work it out. They got 36, to which the poster told them they were right, but even then the comments were still divided.

Either way, my head hurts and now I want a lie down.

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