When number sentences get longer, there are different ways people could solve the same equation.

If everyone solved them different ways, there would be no "right" answer. So mathematicians have all agreed on the same method of solving longer math sentences.

This is called the order of operations.

3 - 1 * 4

If you first do 3 - 1 = 2 and then multiply by 4 you'll get 2 * 4 = 8

However, if you did 1 * 4 = 4 first and then multiplied 3 * 4 = 12 you'd get a totally different answer.

To make sure everyone solves this problem in the same way, there is a rule that says multiplication comes before subtraction. So the "right" way to solve this problem is to first multiple 1 * 4 and then multiply that result by 3.

Math operations should be done in the following order: Parenthesis, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition and Subtraction.

If you see parentheses, do whatever is there first.

Example: (3 + 1) * 2

Normally you would do multiplication before addition. But since the addition is within parentheses, in this problem, you would that first. (3 + 1) * 2 = (4) * 2 = 8