Order of Operations

Multiple Choice
Identify the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.

____ 1. Evaluate the following expression:

19 + 24 • 4
a. 47 c. 58
b. 172 d. 115
____ 2. Evaluate the following expression:
5 ÷ (4 – 3) • 32 – 2
a. 28 c. 35
b. 20 d. 43

Evaluate each of the following.

____ 3. 70 – 4  2  5 + 7
a. 46 c. 347
b. 67 d. 172
____ 4.
a. 29 c. 33
b. 75 d. 12
____ 5.
a. 1,728 c. –20
b. 64 d. 84
____ 6. 73 + (6 – 1)  2
a. 83 c. 77
b. 63 d. 156

Short Answer

7. Evaluate the following expression. Show your work.

41 + 43 • 4 – (6 • 2)

Essay

8. Consider the expression:

(28 ÷ 4) • 5 – 6 + 42
Explain the order of operations you would use to evaluate this expression. Then evaluate it.
9. Discuss the order of operations to explain why the expressions and do not have
the same value.
Order of Operations
Answer Section

MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. ANS: D
This expression does not have parentheses or exponents, so you need to decide which of the two operations to
perform first.
Perform multiplication and division from left to right. Then, perform addition and subtraction from left to
right.

KEY: order of operations

NOT: /A/Did you perform multiplication or division before addition and subtraction? /B/Did you perform the
operations in the correct order? /C/Did you start by performing any multiplication or division? /D/Correct!
2. ANS: D
First, perform any operations within parentheses, then find the value of any numbers with exponents. Next,
perform multiplication and division from left to right. Last, perform addition and subtraction from left to
right.

KEY: order of operations

NOT: /A/Did you start by performing the operation inside the parentheses? /B/Did you start by performing
the operation inside the parentheses? /C/Did you perform the operations in the correct order? /D/Correct!
3. ANS: B
Example:

Divide and multiply from left to right.

Subtract and add from left to right.

KEY: order of operations, evaluate, expression

NOT: /A/Remember to do all multiplication and division operations before doing any addition or subtraction.
/B/Correct! /C/Doing multiplication and division first is correct, but be certain to do all such operations before
doing any addition or subtraction. /D/Before doing any addition or subtraction, remember to do all
multiplication and division even if it is in the middle of the problem.
4. ANS: C
Example:

Evaluate the power.

Multiply and divide from left to right.
Add and subtract from left to right.

KEY: order of operations, evaluate, expression

NOT: /A/Evaluating the number with the exponent first was correct, but then be sure to do multiplication and
division before doing any addition or subtraction. /B/Be sure to evaluate the number with the exponent before
doing any other multiplication, division, addition, or subtraction. /C/Correct! /D/Remember that the exponent
tells the number of times that the base should be multiplied by itself.
 5. ANS: B
Example:
The parentheses are inside the brackets, so perform the operations
inside the parentheses first.
Add/subtract.
Evaluate.
9

KEY: evaluate, expression, order of operations

NOT: /A/Within the parentheses, did you begin with multiplication and division operations first?
/B/Correct! /C/Since the exponent is outside the brackets, remember to evaluate inside the brackets
completely before evaluating with the exponent. /D/Check the exponent to see how many times the number in
brackets should be multiplied by itself.
6. ANS: A
Example:
Perform the operation inside the parentheses.
Multiply/divide.
Add/subtract.

KEY: evaluate, expression, order of operations

NOT: /A/Correct! /B/The order of operations was performed correctly, but double check the addition and
subtraction signs. /C/Operations inside the parentheses must be performed before multiplication and division,
even if the operation inside the parentheses is addition or subtraction. /D/Performing the operation inside the
parentheses first is correct, but the next step is to perform all multiplication and division, and then addition
and subtraction.

SHORT ANSWER

7. ANS:
285

Perform the operation within the parentheses: (6 • 2) = 12.

The expression is now 41 + 43 • 4 – 12.
Find the value of the exponent: 43 = 64.
The expression is now 41 + 64 • 4 – 12.
Perform the multiplication: 64 • 4 = 256.
The expression is now 41 + 256 – 12.
Perform the addition: 41 + 256 = 297.
The expression is now 297 – 12.
Perform the subtraction: 297 – 12 = 285.

KEY: order of operations

ESSAY

8. ANS:
Perform the operation within the parentheses first: (28 ÷ 4). 28 ÷ 4 = 7
 Evaluate the exponent second: 42. 42 = 16
Multiply the result of (28 ÷ 4) by 5. 7  5 = 35
Subtract 6 from the result of (28 ÷ 4) • 5. 35 – 6 = 29
Add the result of 42 to the result of (28 ÷ 4) • 5 – 6. 29 + 16 = 45

KEY: order of operations

9. ANS:
For the expression , the following should be done:
The addition inside the parentheses should be performed first.
Then the division inside the brackets should be performed.
Then the exponent should be evaluated. 3 • 3 • 3 = 27

For the expression , the following should be done:

The division inside the parentheses should be performed first.
Then the powers should be evaluated. (6) + 2 • 2 • 2 = (6) + 8
Then addition should be performed. 6 + 8 = 14

Since there are no brackets in the second expression and the parentheses are in a different place, the order of
operations must be applied differently, resulting in a different value.

KEY: evaluate, expression, order of operations, Performance Assessment