Evaluate -6 ÷ 6x – x2 + (-2) for x = -4. Please show all of your work.

Question

i came up with -3/5 and I really need to see if it is correct or not and the correct way to do it.

Answer 1

The expression is ambiguous in the first term.-6÷6x can be interpreted as -6/(6x)=-1/x; or it can be -(6/6)x=-x. Because multiply and divide have the same priority it isn't clear what is meant. The first term can be evaluated as either 1/4 or 4 when x=-4 is substituted. The remaining part of the expression is -x^2-2=-18 because (-4)^2=16. Therefore the two possible values of the expression are 1/4-18=-17.75 (minus 17 and 3/4) or 4-18=-14.