Survivor

If you notice they did not pay attention to order of operations to get the answer as 1. Never in life will you do a math problem ignoring the order of operations. The first part was 6+2/4, stephen had it as (6+2) =8 then divided by 4. In reality they should have divided 2/4 first then added 6. If you notice JT wrote PEDMAS which is a mnemonic device for order of operations. So of course he didn't finish first because he was probably working with fractions. Debbie might have been doing the same thing and was then voted out. Any one else notice?

yes, and it really made me mad as i paused the program to work the problem, ad i got 6.

OMG you're right! I'm no math wiz, but you are exactly right. Good eye for detail!!!! What controversy could this have caused if the other guy...I can't remember who was close to finishing WAS doing it right in the order of operations!

Wow good catch. When I first read this, I had thought maybe they were told before hand to do the problem in a linear way and ignore the order of operations? But if JT wrote down something to remember the order of operations, well then he and Stephen were working the same problem differently.

I was very upset about this! I am a math teacher and I was shocked that this happened! No one realized that this was the wrong solution? Unreal.

I don't mean this to sound as smartassed as it does....but, if you want to talk about math, let's try some simple counting....like let's count the eight-hundred and elventy three other threads about this.

They were obviously told to solve the problem linearly from left to right.So much so that undneath the preprinted numbers on the board were little blanks. Each blank corresponded to the solution of the next two numbers. If the first part of the problem was 6+2 / 4, there were two dashes underneath for that. They solved 6+ 2 and got 8. You write 8 in the first blank, and then do 8 / 4. You get 2, and put that in the second blank...etc...

The idea of the challenge wasn't to solve a math problem. The idea of the challenge was to run through the obstacle course enough time to remember the order of the symbols.

If they had been told to simply solve left to right then JT would have been done quicker, and he wouldn't have written PEMDAS on his board..

The simplest way to solve it correctly is to put brackets around the calculations that have to be dealt with first (division and multiplication): so

6 + 2 ÷ 4 x 3 ÷ 3 - 7 + 6 + 5 ÷ 3 - 1 x 1 becomes:

6 + (2 ÷ 4) x (3 ÷ 3) - 7 + 6 + (5 ÷ 3) - (1 x 1) =

6 + 1/2 x 1 - 7 + 6 + 5/3 -1 becomes

6 + (1/2 x 1)- 7 + 6 + 5/3 - 1 =

6 + 1/2 - 7 + 6 + 5/3 - 1

Then,for simplicity, add the whole numbers first:

4 + 1/2 + 5/3

Then find a commondemoninator and add the fractions as you get taughtin primary school:

(24 + 3+ 10) =

6

37/6 or 6 1/6

Since this is basic math that most people have to use at some time during their adult life regardless of their current vocation, and given that this particular problem is easy to solve without a calculator, it seems only reasonable that the survivor 'equation' be solved the correct way.

Had they been given the instructions of 'just solve it from left to right like a brain-dead chimp', then why did JT write PEMDAS?

Whilst I pity Debbie for copping a bit of unfair abuse regarding the reward challenge, I don't think she was in the running to solve this one. But JT WAS, and even though his symbols may have been incorrect, he could have run back to the other end of the course, re-memorised the symbols correctly and returned to carry on - he would have had plenty of time as Steven should have been told that '1' was not the correct answer.

By my own logic then, this additional time would have opened the doors to all of the other players (except maybe coach, bless his cotton-socks, he really does suck at challenges), so all of them would have legitimate grounds for appeal.

That said, I wasn't aware of any pay-outs from other shows- can someone elaborate (and don't spare the juicy gossip).

kylebryant50 wrote:

If you notice they did not pay attention to order of operations to get the answer as 1. Never in life will you do a math problem ignoring the order of operations. The first part was 6+2/4, stephen had it as (6+2) =8 then divided by 4. In reality they should have divided 2/4 first then added 6. If you notice JT wrote PEDMAS which is a mnemonic device for order of operations. So of course he didn't finish first because he was probably working with fractions. Debbie might have been doing the same thing and was then voted out. Any one else notice?

Hmm, JT may have other thought things, Survivor was just doing a straightforward left to right math problem, probably didn't use exactly correct syntax on it. Though it would have been hard, without making it look really scary for the contestants ((6+2)/4 + 2*4.....whatever the rest was. I guess they shoulda used parentheses on that. Hey you could have saved JT's perfect rep as uber-warrior here...

kylebryant50 wrote:

If you notice they did not pay attention to order of operations to get the answer as 1. Never in life will you do a math problem ignoring the order of operations. The first part was 6+2/4, stephen had it as (6+2) =8 then divided by 4. In reality they should have divided 2/4 first then added 6. If you notice JT wrote PEDMAS which is a mnemonic device for order of operations. So of course he didn't finish first because he was probably working with fractions . Debbie might have been doing the same thing and was then voted out. Any one else notice?