#104: The Order of Operations

Though Indians like working with numbers (civil engineering, making change at Citgo), their favorite subset of mathematics is the order of operations. As you know, the order of operations states that while solving an equation you move from left to right, solving first numbers within parentheses, then exponents, those involved in multiplication and division next, and finally numbers being added and subtracted. In elementary school children across the world learn the order of operations with the acronym PEM DAS, which is the name of a Bengali graduate student living in Massachusetts who TA's at MIT for a course in sinusoidal oscillations.