Basic Arithmetic Operations

Basic Arithmetic in Math Expressions

The four fundamental arithmetic operations form the foundation of every mathematical expression:

• Addition (+): Combines two values. 5 + 3 equals 8.
• Subtraction (-): Finds the difference. 10 - 4 equals 6.
• Multiplication (*): Scales a value. 6 * 7 equals 42.
• Division (/): Splits a value. 20 / 4 equals 5.

Operator Precedence (PEMDAS/BODMAS)

When an expression contains multiple operators, the parser follows standard mathematical precedence:

1. Parentheses ( ) are evaluated first.
2. Exponentiation ^ comes next.
3. Multiplication, Division, Modulo * / % are evaluated left to right.
4. Addition, Subtraction + - are evaluated last, left to right.

Example

2 + 3 * 4 = 14      (not 20, because * binds tighter than +)
(2 + 3) * 4 = 20    (parentheses override precedence)
10 - 2 * 3 + 1 = 5  (2*3=6, then 10-6+1=5)

Modulo Operator

The % operator returns the remainder after integer division:

17 % 5 = 2    (17 divided by 5 is 3 remainder 2)
10 % 3 = 1
100 % 7 = 2

This is useful for determining whether a number is even (n % 2 == 0) or for cyclic indexing in programming.

Division by Zero

Dividing by zero is undefined in mathematics. The evaluator catches this and returns a clear error message rather than producing Infinity or NaN.