GCSE · Integers, powers & roots

Negatives and the order of operationsExam-style questions

Why the order of operations exists, why −3² and (−3)² are different numbers, and how the sign rules for negatives follow from what multiplication means.

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13 questions · GCSE (Higher) level · mark scheme and worked solution on each · no sign-up to try

DifficultyAllLevel 1Level 2Level 3Level 4
  1. 1
    Work out

    (a) 3+4×223 + 4 \times 2^2

    (b) 18−12÷3+118 - 12 \div 3 + 1
    Level 3 · 4 marksTry it
  2. 2
    (a) Work out (−12)÷(−3)+(−2)×5(-12) \div (-3) + (-2) \times 5

    (b) At midnight the temperature in Oslo is −8°C. By noon the temperature has risen by 13°C. By the next midnight it has fallen 9°C from its noon value.

    Work out the temperature at the next midnight.
    Level 3 · 4 marksTry it
  3. 3
    Add one pair of brackets to each statement to make it true.

    (a) 3+4×2−1=133 + 4 \times 2 - 1 = 13

    (b) 20÷4+1−3=120 \div 4 + 1 - 3 = 1
    Level 3 · 2 marksTry it
  4. 4
    Work out 2+3×614−4\dfrac{2 + 3 \times 6}{14 - 4}
    Level 3 · 2 marksTry it
  5. 5
    One night in Aberdeen the temperature fell to −8°-8°C.

    The next afternoon it rose to 5°5°C.

    (a) Work out the rise in temperature.

    The following night the temperature fell 99 degrees from 5°5°C.

    (b) Work out the temperature that night.
    Level 3 · 2 marksTry it