- Home
- > Maths I
- > Numbers and Money
- > Order of operation
Page:
Do you remember BODMAS? It stands for 'brackets', 'other', 'division', 'multiplication', 'addition' and 'subtraction'. The order in which we carry out a calculation is important.
Order of operation
What is 
?
If we calculate the ‘
’ part first, we get:
If we calculate the ‘
’ part first, we get:
These are obviously two different answers - but which one is correct?
BODMAS tells us that 'multiplication' comes before 'addition', so the second answer is correct:
Worked example:
Calculate: 
Solution
In this question, we have a bracket, a subtraction and a multiplication.
BODMAS tells us that brackets come first, so we calculate:
- Question
Calculate:
- Answer
Did you get
? Well done.If not, remember that multiplication comes before addition and subtraction, so we have:
Page:
Links
SQA - Maths
Scottish Qualifications Authority Maths resources, including Past Papers, Arrangements Documents, and Marking Guidelines.
© MMIX