Order of Operations (PEMDAS) — Answer Key
Part A: Multiple Choice
Circle the best answer for each question.
1. A store sells 3 packs of pencils at $2 each and 2 notebooks at $5 each. Find: 3 × 2 + 2 × 5
A) $16
B) $25
C) $20
D) $30
3 × 2 = 6 and 2 × 5 = 10. Total: 6 + 10 = $16.
2. Emma has 4² stickers and gives away 3 × 3. How many remain? Find: 4² − 3 × 3
A) 9
B) 7
C) 3
D) 39
4² = 16 and 3 × 3 = 9. Remaining: 16 − 9 = 7 stickers.
3. A baker makes (6+4)×3 cookies then sells 2²×5 of them. How many remain?
A) 10
B) 15
C) 20
D) 25
(6+4)×3 = 10×3 = 30 cookies made. 2²×5 = 4×5 = 20 sold. Remaining: 30 − 20 = 10.
4. A garden has 2 rows of (3+5) flowers plus 3² extra flowers. Total: 2×(3+5)+3²
A) 25
B) 22
C) 19
D) 28
Parentheses: (3+5)=8. Exponent: 3²=9. Multiply: 2×8=16. Add: 16+9=25.
Part B: Fill in the Blank
Write the correct answer on each line.
1. A class has 5 groups of (2 + 4) students. Total: 5 × (2 + 4) = 30.
Parentheses: (2 + 4) = 6. Multiply: 5 × 6 = 30 students.
2. Sam earns $3² per hour, works 4 hours, then spends $6. He has 3² × 4 − 6 = $30.
Exponent: 3² = 9. Multiply: 9 × 4 = 36. Subtract: 36 − 6 = 30.
3. A shelf holds 2³ + 3 × 4 books. That equals 20 books.
Exponent: 2³ = 8. Multiply: 3 × 4 = 12. Add: 8 + 12 = 20 books.
4. A recipe needs (8 − 3) × 2 + 5 cups of flour. That is 15 cups.
Parentheses: (8 − 3) = 5. Multiply: 5 × 2 = 10. Add: 10 + 5 = 15 cups.
5. There are 6² ÷ 4 − 2 seats left in a theater. That is 7 seats.
Exponent: 6² = 36. Divide: 36 ÷ 4 = 9. Subtract: 9 − 2 = 7 seats.