California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) Math Practice Exam

Which operation should be performed first in the expression 5 + (2 × 3) - 4?

1. Addition

2. Subtraction

3. Multiplication

4. Parentheses

The correct answer is: Parentheses

In the given expression 5 + (2 × 3) - 4, the first operation that should be performed is to evaluate the expression within the parentheses. Operations within parentheses take precedence over addition and subtraction, which means that anything inside the parentheses should be resolved before proceeding with other operations in the expression. In this case, you would first calculate \(2 × 3\) within the parentheses, which equals 6. After resolving this, you would then replace the parentheses with the result, turning the expression into \(5 + 6 - 4\). From there, you would proceed with addition and subtraction in the order they appear from left to right. Understanding the order of operations, commonly remembered by the acronym PEMDAS (Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication and Division (from left to right), Addition and Subtraction (from left to right)), is crucial for correctly interpreting and evaluating mathematical expressions.