Small correction.. It should be (5-6)- 2 = -3 whereas 5-(6-2) = 1 Cheers! I think you are missing something really small. (5+6)+2 = 13 ; 5+(6+2) = 13 so its fine. But (5-6)-1 = -2 ; whereas 5-(6-2) = 1-4 = -3 so st 2 is not suffcient Hope you are not forgetting the PEMDAS rule, must solve the parant...