Pearson Algebra 1 Common Core, 2011
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Pearson Algebra 1 Common Core, 2011 View details
2. Order of Operations and Evaluating Expressions
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Exercise 17 Page 13

Pay close attention to the order of operations.

2

Practice makes perfect

According to the order of operations, expressions inside parentheses are evaluated first, while addition and subtraction are evaluated last. For the given expression, we must evaluate the exponents first, multiplications next, and finally, the difference between their results.

Operation Before Simplification After Simplification
Calculate power 20 - 2 * 3^2 20 - 2 * 9
Multiply 20 - 2 * 9 20 - 18
Subtract term 20 - 18 2

The expression equals 2.

Alternative Solution

Using a Calculator
We can also evaluate this expression using a calculator. To do so, type it as shown below.