Hi WolframAlpha team,

Sorry, I am not sure where the correct place to report this bug is. I hope this is the right place.

I would like to report several parsing issues in WolframAlpha involving simple arithmetic expressions and implicit multiplication. These are surprising because they affect very basic mathematical inputs.

Incorrect precedence/parsing for : and *

Input: 5:3*3

Expected: 5

Result: 5:9

Notes: I expected this to be interpreted as (5 / 3) * 3, following standard left-to-right evaluation for division and multiplication. However, it appears to be interpreted as 5 / (3 * 3), which gives 5/9.

Incorrect parsing of adjacent number and fraction with no space before the fraction

Input: 2_fraction(2, 3)

There is no space between 2 and fraction(2, 3). The underscore here is only used to show adjacency.

Possible expected behavior: - Interpret it as a mixed number: 2 + 2/3 = 8/3 - Interpret it as multiplication: 2 * (2/3) = 4/3 - Or report an ambiguous/invalid input

Result: 22/3

Notes: The issue is not that WolframAlpha chooses mixed number vs multiplication. The issue is that it appears to parse the expression incorrectly by concatenating the leading 2 into the numerator, producing 22/3.

Incorrect parsing of adjacent fraction and number with no space after the fraction

Input: fraction(2, 3)_2

There is no space between fraction(2, 3) and 2. The underscore here is only used to show adjacency.

Possible expected behavior: - Interpret it as multiplication: (2/3) * 2 = 4/3 - Or report an ambiguous/invalid input

Result: 2/32

Notes: The trailing 2 seems to be concatenated into the denominator instead of being treated as multiplication or rejected as ambiguous/invalid input.

Incorrect behavior when choosing "Use as product"

Input: 2 2/3

There is a space between 2 and 2/3.

WolframAlpha shows:

Assuming 2 2/3 is a mixed fraction | Use 2 2/3 as a product instead

Expected when choosing "Use as product": 2 * (2/3) = 4/3

Result after clicking the product interpretation: {2, 2/3}

Notes: The clarification option is useful, but when I choose to use the expression as a product, it appears to become a list instead of a multiplication expression.

Expected behavior

For expressions involving adjacent numbers and fractions, WolframAlpha should distinguish between valid interpretations, such as:

2 2/3 as a mixed number: 2 + 2/3 = 8/3

and:

2 * 2/3 as a product: 4/3

If the input is ambiguous or invalid, reporting ambiguity or an input error would be better than silently concatenating digits into the numerator or denominator.

If the user explicitly chooses "Use as product", the expression should not be converted into a list.

Why this matters

These are very simple arithmetic cases, so incorrect parsing here can easily mislead users. The issue is especially concerning because WolframAlpha is widely trusted for mathematical computation.

Could you please check the parser behavior for these cases?

Thank you.