Glossary
order of operations
The order of operations is the agreed sequence for evaluating an expression — parentheses, then exponents, then multiply and divide, then add and subtract, left to right within a step.
The order of operations is the rule that decides which part of an expression is worked out first when it could be read two ways. Groupings first — parentheses, brackets, a fraction bar, a radical sign. Then exponents and roots. Then multiplication and division. Then addition and subtraction, working left to right inside each rank.
It exists because arithmetic is not associative: 2 + 3 × 4 is 14 and not 20, and only an agreed order makes one of those answers the correct one. Multiplication and division rank equally and are settled left to right, and so do addition and subtraction. That is why 12 / 3 × 2 is 8 rather than 2 — the division sits further left.
On this subtest the rule matters most when you substitute values into an expression. Put negative values in parentheses before you evaluate them, keep track of a minus sign in front of a grouping, and remember that a fraction bar groups everything above it and everything below it even when no parentheses appear.
Taught in
Related terms
- exponent — An exponent tells you how many times to multiply a number by itself: 2 to the third power means 2 × 2 × 2. It is shorthand for repeated multiplication.
Source: Official ASVAB — subtest descriptions (what each subtest asks) and the CAT-ASVAB scored-question counts (accessed 2026-09)