The Internet’s Favorite Trap: Decoding $8 – 8 times 8 + 8$

If you scroll through social media for more than ten minutes, you are bound to stumble across a screenshot of a basic arithmetic expression causing thousands of people in the comment section to argue passionately. Equations like $8 – 8 times 8 + 8$ look harmless enough—after all, every single number in them is an eight. Yet, they routinely divide the internet into competing camps, with confident users swearing up and down that the answer is $0$, $48$, or $-48$.

So, what is the actual truth? Let’s break down the math, explore where the traps lie, and see why our brains love to misfire on these deceptively simple problems.

The Verdict: What Is the Answer?

The correct answer is $-48$.

If you arrived at $-48$, give yourself a pat on the back. If you got something else, don’t worry—you are in very good company with millions of confused internet commenters.

Let’s look at why $-48$ is correct by following the universal rules of arithmetic.

Step-by-Step Breakdown Using the Order of Operations

To solve any mathematical expression that mixes addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, we rely on the standard order of operations, commonly remembered by acronyms like PEMDAS (Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication/Division, Addition/Subtraction) or BODMAS (Brackets, Orders, Division/Multiplication, Addition/Subtraction).

Here is how the rules apply to $8 – 8 times 8 + 8$:

Step 1: Handle Multiplication First

Multiplication and division take precedence over addition and subtraction. Scanning our expression from left to right, we spot the multiplication part: $8 times 8$.

• $8 times 8 = 64$

Now, substitute that result back into the original expression:
$$8 – 64 + 8$$

Step 2: Perform Addition and Subtraction from Left to Right

A common pitfall at this stage is assuming that addition always comes before subtraction because of how the acronym is written. In reality, addition and subtraction have equal rank and must be evaluated strictly from left to right.

1. First, perform the subtraction on the left:
   $$8 – 64 = -56$$
2. Next, add the remaining $8$:
   $$-56 + 8 = -48$$

Thus, the final answer is $-48$.

Where Do People Go Wrong?

Why do these problems generate so much chaos? Usually, it boils down to two major cognitive traps:

1. The Left-to-Right Illusion: Many people read math sentences like regular text, moving straight from left to right without prioritizing multiplication. If you calculate $8 – 8$ first, you get $0$. Multiplying that by $8$ gives $0$, and adding $8$ leaves you with $8$. It feels intuitive, but it completely breaks the mathematical hierarchy.
2. The Addition-Before-Subtraction Misconception: Some people remember “PEMDAS” or “BODMAS” and mistakenly believe that the “A” (Addition) must happen before the “S” (Subtraction). If someone groups the addition at the end—thinking $64 + 8$ first—they can easily spiral into a completely different incorrect answer.

Why Do We Need Rules Like This?

It is easy to mock these viral math problems as internet trickery, but the order of operations isn’t arbitrary. Imagine writing computer code, calculating financial interest, or engineering a bridge. If arithmetic didn’t have a universally agreed-upon set of rules, two different engineers calculating the exact same formula could get two entirely different structures.

Standardized rules ensure that math remains a universal language where a string of numbers always yields one unambiguous truth—even if finding that truth requires dodging a few internet traps along the way!