That is so there is no confusion on how something is worked out.
Eg 2 + 3 x 6 =
if we were to do that as it looks we would get 30 where as with the operations rule it would be 20.
So it serves to prevent confusion especially with very large calculations.
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In that case, you need to know the rules about which operations to do first. In normal algebra, powers have a higher priority than multiplications and divisions; and these, in turn, have a higher priority than addition and subtraction.
The various operations within the expression are carried out using the order of operations: BIDMAS (UK) or PEMDAS (US).
There are different rules for different operations.
order of operations
Operations are almost always carried out in the order of their importance to the task at hand.