Everyone agreed on the first step: Solve inside the parentheses, for 2+2=4. But after that, people split down two paths. Some multiplied first, while others divided, leading to different answers—1 and ...

A graphic artist is testing everyone’s knowledge of algebra and spot-the-difference skills with a pictograph math problem that assigns numbers to different fruits. Gergely Dudás, of Hungary Budapest, ...

You don’t have to be a math whiz to know that 4 - 2 + 1 equals 3. Yet I was working with several students recently who said it equals 1. And it wasn’t their fault. Nor was it their teacher’s fault.