Originally Posted by RufusG
Originally Posted by mathman
2(...) The 2 adjacent to the parentheses means 2 times (...). Explicitly written it's 2*(...)

.....

An earlier poster declaring "2 times 4" to be in the denominator effectively inserts parentheses that weren't there, as in 8/(2*4), or 8/(2(2+2)).


Didn't you just insert an asterisk that wasn't there?


The asterisk indicates a multiplication that's already there, just to make it stick out like a sore thumb. It does not change the meaning or grouping of terms.

The extra inserted parentheses do change meaning/grouping.