In mathematics, when solving a problem, the order of operations is critically important to ensure that everyone gets the same correct result. The widely accepted order of operations is remembered by the acronym PEMDAS in the United States or BODMAS in the UK and some other countries. Both acronyms stand for the following:
P/B - Parentheses/Brackets
E/O - Exponents/Orders (such as squares and square roots, etc.)
MD/DM - Multiplication and Division (left-to-right)
AS - Addition and Subtraction (left-to-right)
Therefore, according to the order of operations:
a. Parentheses (or Brackets)
should be done first.
This means that any operations inside parentheses or brackets should be performed before any other operations, even if those operations are exponents, multiplication, division, addition, or subtraction. After performing the operations inside parentheses, you would then proceed to the next step in the order of operations, which is exponents.
