The Internet’s Favorite Trap: Decoding $8 – 8 times 8 + 8$
If you have spent more than five minutes scrolling through social media, you have likely encountered a viral math puzzle designed specifically to start arguments in the comment section. Among the most classic variations is a deceptively simple string of numbers: 8 – 8 * 8 + 8.
At first glance, it looks like elementary school arithmetic. Yet, thousands of adults will rush to the comments with wildly different answers—ranging from zero to negative forty-eight.
So, what is the actual answer? Let us break it down step-by-step and see why this tiny expression continues to trip people up.
The Verdict Upfront
The correct answer to 8 – 8 * 8 + 8 is -48.
If you arrived at that number on your first try, congratulations! You successfully navigated the universal rules of mathematics. If you got something else, do not worry—you are in good company with millions of internet commenters.
Step-by-Step Breakdown: The Order of Operations
To solve this expression correctly, we rely on the standard rules of arithmetic operations, universally known by acronyms like PEMDAS (Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication and Division, Addition and Subtraction) or BODMAS (Brackets, Orders, Division and Multiplication, Addition and Subtraction).
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