In equations like this, to solve it, you would need to use the PEMDAS method. PEMDAS is a term for Parenthesis, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, and Subtraction. You would solve an equation in the order of PEMDAS. Whatever comes first, you would solve that first.
P - Parenthesis
E - Exponents
M - Multiplication
D - Division
A - Addition
S - Subtraction
In PEMDAS, you would go in order from P, then E, then M, then D, then A, and finally S. If one is not there, for example, if there is no multiplication, you would just move on and see if division comes first.
In your equation, 3 × (3 + 12 ÷ 3) - 4
Jay did some parts of PEMDAS right, he started with the stuff inside the Parenthesis, but his error is that he did addition before division, and when you look at how PEMDAS is formatted, division comes before addition. In this case, you would do division before you add.
Jay's Error: He did addition before dividing.
Correct way to solve:
Using PEMDAS, you would first do the problems inside the Parenthesis, and in the parenthesis, you would divide 12 by 3 because division comes before addition, and that would get you 4
Your equation now looks like this:
3 × (3+4) - 4
Then you add 3+4, that will give you 7.
3 × 7 - 4
When you finish solving 3 times 7, giving you 21, and subtract 4 from 21, you would get 17.
The correct answer would be 17.
