Simplification: BODMAS- Basic concepts

Though this area may have less of direct questions appearing in most of the competitive exams, but its indirect application makes this topic very relevant from the Quant section point of view. Simplification or simplify fractions means to simplify a complicated mathematical expression to get a single or direct answer.

To understand it clearly, let us solve the following example.

Illustration: Solve 12 + 8 ÷ 4

Sol: The correct solution is as follows = 12 + 8 ×(1/4) = 12 + 2 = 14

Note: Many students will solve it as follows: 12 + 8  4 = 20 ÷ 4 = 5 which is wrong. We must follow the Bodmas formula. According to BODMAS rule, multiplication should be after division. Given below are the details of the letters and the sequence to be followed while solving simplification or BODMAS based questions.

So for simplifying expressions, we must follow the above sequence. In the previous given example, we first divide 8 by 4 and add it to 12 as division (D) is before multiple (M) in BODMAS.

Note: Remember to replace every division symbol with multiplication symbol followed by the reciprocal of the number following the division symbol, as shown in the above illustration. This simplification trick must be applied to simplify math problems.

Now let us solve a few examples to understand simplification in Maths. Besides that, you will also learn simplifying the algebraic expressions.

The given examples will help you solve the simplification questions related to various exams.