[Goodwin]

The correct answer should be 2 seeing as how you put the 9 and 3 in parentheses. Using order of operations, Parentheses Exponents Multiplication Division Addition Subtraction (PEMDAS)?

Either way, I always make sure to put parentheses either way when it comes to problems like these.

PEDMAS, BODMAS, BIDMAS or whatever you want to call isn't a mathematical axiom. It's a handy guide for remembering things but it shouldn't be treated as being a definitive rule. The correct way to do this is to sort out any operations in parentheses first (i.e. the 9 + 3) and then go back and read the expression left to right, where multiplication and division are done before addition/subtraction.

Thus the correct answer in Kaotika's original expression is 288 and not 2:

48 / 2 ( 9 + 3 ) = 48 ÷ 2 x 12 = 24 x 12 = 288

The answer is only 2 if the expression is specifically written like this:

48 / ( 2 ( 9 + 3 ) ) = 48 ÷ ( 2 x 12 ) = 48 ÷ 24 = 2

Slapping parentheses about can easily change an expression from its intended form.