Order of Operations

The phrase "Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally" is used by many students to remember the Order of Operations. The order in which operations should be performed is given below:

  • Parentheses - Operations within parentheses and other groups should be simplified before all other operations.
  • Exponents - Exponents and Roots should be simplified. Work these from left to right.
  • Multiplication and Division - Operations involving multiplication and division should be simplified. Work these left to right.
  • Addition and Subtraction - The last operations to be simplified are addition and subtraction. Work from left to right.

Simplify using Order of Operations.

12 - 3(10+2^3)\div9\times(-2)

Simplify using order of operations.

-3^2 + 2 \{ -5 - 2 [ 8 - \sqrt{25} + 6 (4 - 5) ]^2 \}