Is the math equation 230 minus 220 times 0.5 equals 5 going viral actually correct or is it a trick

This is one of the best math memes ever because it exploits two things simultaneously: 1. **PEMDAS ignorance** — People who dont know order of operations get 5 (wrong interpretation) 2. **Factorial notation blindness** — People who know PEMDAS see $5!$ and think "5 with an exclamation mark" or miss that $5! = 120$ The genius is that $5! = 120$, which matches the correct PEMDAS answer. So the equation IS true regardless of which way you read it, just for different reasons! $$230 - 220 \times 0.5 = 230 - 110 = 120 = 5!$$ **Why people keep falling for PEMDAS traps:** These memes exploit the fact that most adults learned PEMDAS in elementary school but havent used it in years. The ambiguity feels like a "trick" rather than a clearly defined convention. **Other notation traps:** - $\frac{1}{2\pi}$ vs $1/2\pi$ (implicit multiplication ambiguity) - $(-1)^{1/3}$ (principal cube root vs real cube root) - $6 \div 2(1+2)$ (the calculator divide) - $\sin^2 x$ meaning $(\sin x)^2$, not $\sin(\sin x)$