Now we'll look at the order of operations. Sometimes when we're solving a problem, there's more than one step for us to perform. But it's important for us to know what step we need to do first or second or third. So we can follow the order of operations to make sure that we do everything in the proper order and get the correct answer. Let's look at this problem. 36 divided by three. Simple enough, right? Just one step, one operation to perform. But what if there was more to this problem? Now we have 36 divided by three minus four times five. There's a lot going on here. Where do we start? How do we know what to do first? We could start with the division, but we could start with the multiplication. Or we could even start with the subtraction. Do we get to choose or is there a proper way to do this? It turns out that there is a proper way to do it. It's called the order of operations. So let's look at what the order of operations tell us we need to do first to solve this problem. With the order of operations. The first thing that we'll always start with are parentheses. Now, not every problem is going to have parentheses. In fact, most of the ones that we see probably won't for this course. But if you ever do have a problem with parentheses, you always solve what's inside the parentheses first. So that's our step one. Our step two is to solve the exponents. Now, if you haven't seen exponents before, it's represented as a number written a little smaller and a little higher than the number that it sits next to. If you haven't learned them yet, don't worry. It's a topic that we normally study once we get further into algebra. So we really won't see this much at all. The next step includes multiplication. Now, multiplication can be represented with different symbols, so keep your eyes open for that. We might see the little x, the little cross to represent multiplication. We might see just a dot between the numbers to show multiplication. But sometimes we might even see parentheses. Whenever you see a number written right next to parentheses, that means that number is going to be multiplied by whatever's inside the parentheses. So with this example, the two that's on the outside is going to get multiplied by the three that's on the inside. Step three also includes division. So division can be represented different ways. We can see the division symbol, or sometimes division is also represented as a fraction. So the fraction two thirds can also be thought of as two divided by three. Now notice, step three includes multiplication and division. So that means when we are simplifying expressions, we're going to perform the multiplication and division during the same step. Step four includes addition and subtraction. We'll also perform addition and subtraction at the same time. Once we get to that step. Now, to help us remember the order of operations, we can use this little acronym. First, we start with the P for parentheses. Then our next step is E for exponents. Our third step, we can have M and D to represent multiplication and division. And then our fourth step we can use AS to show addition and subtraction. So you can put that together and just remember the word PEMDAS to remember the order of operations. Now, in our next lesson, we're going to look at how we can apply the order of operations to help us simplify expressions.