PHP is processed on the server, before sending the result to the client.
For example, if you do this:
<p>
<?php
$name = "Dan";
print "hello, $name, ";
?>
How are you?
</p>
The client will get:
<p>hello, Dan, How are you?</p>
And then, the client will process any javascript included in the code.
So in your case, the server would try to process this code:
<?php $n ?>
and then send the result to the server, appending the code out of the tags. Which would give an error, since $n by itself is not a valid php instruction.
So: PHP is executed on the server, and then, javascript is executed on the client.
You should check some tutorials, and try first to understand how PHP and Javascript work.
http://www.webmonkey.com/2010/02/php_tutorial_for_beginners/
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