Brackets
Brackets are symbols used in pairs to group things together.
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Types of brackets include:
- parentheses or "round brackets" ( )
- "square brackets" or "box brackets" [ ]
- braces or "curly brackets" { }
- "angle brackets" < >
(Note: Angle brackets can be confusing because they look like the "less than" and "greater than" signs) |
When you see things inside brackets you do them first (as explained in Order of Operations).
Example: (3 + 2) × (6 - 4)
The parentheses group 3 and 2 together, and 6 and 4 together, so they get done first:
| (3 + 2) × (6 - 4) |
= (5) × (2) |
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= 5×2 |
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= 10 |
Without the parentheses the multiplication would be done first:
3 + 2 × 6 - 4 = 3 + 12 - 4 = 11 (not 10)
When you do more complicated grouping it is good to use different types of brackets:
Example: [(3 + 2) × (6 - 4) + 2] × 4
The parentheses group 3 and 2 together, and 6 and 4 together, and the square brackets tell you to do all the calculations inside them before multiplying by 4:
| [(3 + 2) × (6 - 4) + 2] × 4 |
= [(5) × (2) + 2] × 4 |
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= [10 + 2] × 4 |
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= 12 × 4 |
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= 48 |
Curly Brackets
Curly brackets {} are used in Sets:
Example: {2, 4, 6, 8}
Is the set of even numbers from 2 to 8
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