text: what is 3*21+1-18+20-2 squared?   4096.  do all the multiplication first, then add and subtract, then square your answer.  what the math teacher said is right except he messed up on the subtraction in one step.  the process should look like this:  3*21= 63 63+1=64 64-18= 46 (not 56) 46+20=66 66-2=64 64 squared=4096