Type 6 ÷ 2(1+2) into a group chat and watch the chaos unfold. Half the room shouts 9, the other half swears it is 1, and within minutes someone is posting a screenshot of their calculator as proof. This short string of numbers has started more arguments than almost any other math problem on the internet, and the frustrating part is that both sides are completely sure they are right.
So which side wins? The correct answer is 9. Here is exactly why, and why the answer 1 feels so convincing that smart people will defend it for hours.
Why So Many People Answer 1
The "1" camp is not being sloppy. They are following a very reasonable instinct: parentheses come first, so they simplify inside the brackets to get 6 ÷ 2(3). Then they see 2(3), a number glued to a set of parentheses, and treat it as one locked-together chunk. Multiply that first: 2 × 3 = 6. Then 6 ÷ 6 = 1.
It looks tidy. It feels like what a teacher would want. The problem is that the standard order of operations never gives implied multiplication VIP treatment. Once the parentheses are simplified, 2(3) is just multiplication wearing a fancy outfit, and multiplication does not get to cut in line ahead of division.
It is the exact same trap as the infamous 8 ÷ 2(2+2) problem, which split the internet the same way a while back. Same illusion, different numbers.
The Rule That Settles It: Left to Right
The order of operations, the PEMDAS/BODMAS you learned in school, has one clause people constantly forget: multiplication and division have equal rank. Neither one outranks the other. When they appear side by side, you simply work left to right, the way you read a sentence.
So after handling the parentheses, 6 ÷ 2(3) is really 6 ÷ 2 × 3. Reading left to right, the division comes first and the multiplication comes second. That one sentence is the entire controversy, resolved.
To be fair, the confusion has real roots. A few older textbooks and some calculators treat implied multiplication like 2(3) as binding tighter than an explicit ÷ or ×. That is why two different calculators can disagree about the same problem: they were programmed with different conventions. But in standard classroom math, and on virtually every standardized test, multiplication and division are equals, solved left to right. Under that standard, the one your teacher uses, the answer is 9. Full stop.
One more way to see it: rewrite the division as a fraction and the problem can only be read one way. 6 ÷ 2 × 3 is the same as (6/2) × 3, never 6/(2 × 3). Nobody would stack the 2 and the 3 together under the fraction bar unless the parentheses said so, and here they do not. The moment you stop giving 2(3) special treatment, the ambiguity evaporates and 9 is the only answer left standing.
Solving It Step by Step
Step 1: Parentheses first.
1 + 2 = 3, so the expression becomes:
6 ÷ 2(3)
Step 2: Rewrite the implied multiplication.
2(3) means 2 × 3. Now the expression reads:
6 ÷ 2 × 3
Step 3: Division and multiplication, left to right.
The leftmost operation is the division: 6 ÷ 2 = 3. That leaves:
3 × 3
Step 4: Finish the multiplication.
3 × 3 = 9.
Answer: 9. If you want to double-check the arithmetic behind each move, run the numbers through our free step-by-step calculators and watch every operation land in order.
Try These Yourself
1) 12 ÷ 3(1+1) = ?
Parentheses first: 12 ÷ 3(2), which is 12 ÷ 3 × 2. Left to right: 12 ÷ 3 = 4, then 4 × 2 = 8.
2) 20 ÷ 5(2+2) = ?
Parentheses first: 20 ÷ 5(4), which is 20 ÷ 5 × 4. Left to right: 20 ÷ 5 = 4, then 4 × 4 = 16.
3) 100 ÷ 10(1+4) = ?
Parentheses first: 100 ÷ 10(5), which is 100 ÷ 10 × 5. Left to right: 100 ÷ 10 = 10, then 10 × 5 = 50.