To really liven up a Saturday spent indoors, BIDMAS became one of the top trends on Twitter after one user challenged people so solve the problem. Those who say the answer is 9 argue you should tackle the equation by solving the brackets (1+2=3) and multiplying it by 6÷2 (also 3). One replied to say: "The UK's been in lockdown for less than 10 days and we've already f***ing lost it." Another added: "WTF is wrong with the UK, BIDMAS is trending on a Saturday and it's a blinking maths question!" But many attempted to act as peacemaker to explain the answer could be either 1 or 9, writing: "The problem is inherently ambiguous and there’s no convention that produces a definitive answer, BIDMAS or no BIDMAS.

Source: Daily Mirror November 14, 2020 12:33 UTC