BODMAS

50 x 3 / (6 + 4) would be

= 50 x 3 /10 (B for brackets first)
= 50 x 0.3 (D for division next)
= 1.5 ( Multiplying 50 by 0.3 gives you 1.5, not 150.)

If you want to do ALL that is outside the brackets before applying the / then you have to put another set of brackets around 50 x 3

I am certainly doh!
I think I will give Facebook quizzes a miss from now on

SueSocks I think the "Of" comes from predecimal calculations, where you might have to work out what "Half of 264 x (a third of 99 minus two-fifths of 350) plus a quarter of 1,760/73 " came to.

Heavens knows what the answer to that random sum might be, it probably ends up to a couple of dozen decimal places, but you would get there by doing the Brackets (which includes an couple of Ofs) then the other Of, then the / and the x and finally the +.

I remember BODMAS as well although I was never really clear about the "Of" bit. But I think (for what its worth) Elegran is right.

I took GCE maths in the early 60s at grammar school and have never heard of BODMAS and how can two answer be right one must be wrong When I do those FB maths things I rarely get them as the younger people get one answer and the older folk get a different one
How could my answers be correct in 1960 but wrong in 2018
I would do the sum quoted by Joolsnan exactly the same as she has done and get the same answer but obviously that’s wrong and I can’t understand why at all

It depends whether you read the sum as "Five lots of three plus four odd ones" or "Five lots of three plus four lots of three" Maths has to be exact. The order in which you do a process makes a difference. Imagine making a souffle omelette - you have to separate the eggs then beat the whites quite stiff before recombining the two parts. If you do the beating before the separating, you get a completely different result.

Words can be ambiguous, so an order of precedence means that everyone gets the same answer.
If you say "Five times four plus three" there are two ways to interpret it - the first is as "Multiply four by five, then add three" doing each bit in the order it is given.

The second is as "Five times what? Times four-plus-three." (which is seven) doing each bit in order of precedence.

I was taught this in the1950s, but it was never given a name, just taught as the order to solve equations.

The name is just a mnemonic to remember it by.

Joelsnan - correct!
Elegran - you started off correctly, but at the last stage 50 x 0.3 is 15 not 1.5.
These 2 methods both demonstrate correct use of BODMAS but what the mnemonic doesn't tell you is that you can change the order of Division & Multiplication
Eg think about 6 x 4 divided by 2
Division first gives 6 x 2 = 12
Multiplying first gives 24 divided by 2 = 12.
You must do all multiplying & dividing before you do + and -.
Same applies to + & -.
5+6-2 = 11-2=9
or
5+6-2 =5+4=9 if we do the subtracting first.

Some puzzles on FB usually have bananas, coconuts or other objects in them.
People very rarely get the same answers

www.independent.co.uk/news/science/facebook-fruit-puzzle-answer-the-solution-to-the-simple-algebra-question-that-is-driving-social-a6879441.html

There is a catch which some people miss

SueSocks Red face! Believe it or not, it was my calculator that produced that result! I must have mistyped.

So basically suesocks we both got the same answer but did it two different ways ...well that’s acceptable I couldn’t see how it was a 1.5 answer instead of 15 perhaps we re not so dim after all Joelsnan

Why does it need a mnemonic? It only complicates matters. I was no great shakes at maths but once explained the concept was so blindingly obvious, I didn't need to be reminded, it was programmed in.

Some people do need mnemonics, some don't.