Hi Susan,

It's not the rules of operation that are important it's that the mathematical expression be written in a way that is clear to the reader. I read what you have written as

the quantity 5 × 8 + 6 divided by the quantity 6 - 12 × 2.

The convention (rule) you need here is that multiplication is performed before addition. Hence the first quantity is

5 × 8 + 6 = 40 + 6.

Adding 40 and 6 gives 46.

The second quantity is

6 - 12 × 2 = 6 - 24.

Adding 6 and -24 gives -18.

Thus you have 46 divided by -24 or

46/-24 = - 46/24 = - 23/12.

I hope this helps,
Penny