give me an example of order of operations – the steps used to simplify an expression
Sure! Here's an example of the order of operations used to simplify an expression:
Expression: 2 + 3 * 4 - (8 / 2)
Step 1: First, look for parentheses and simplify within them.
Expression after simplifying parentheses: 2 + 3 * 4 - 4
Step 2: Next, perform multiplication and division from left to right.
Expression after performing multiplication and division: 2 + 12 - 4
Step 3: Finally, perform addition and subtraction from left to right.
Expression after performing addition and subtraction: 14 - 4
Simplified expression: 10