Posted on 01/04/2023 7:26:21 AM PST by CFW
Social media users have been left bewildered after discovering that 550 divided by two is 275 - and not 225 as many seem to instinctively assume.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
I am glad that someone else was honest about.
It’s not that I couldn’t figure out the answer. It is more that it seemed easy enough at first glance that it activate my analytical brain and instead allowed my instinctive brain to try first.
it’s just how some peoples mind works spontaneously at a glance.
Yes ... it's indicative of a pedagogical failure in early childhood. What we learn (or don't) in First Grade ... and what we learn at home before we go to school ... REALLY MATTERS. Bad teachers are incredibly destructive. Bad curricula are even more destructive.
Cool story.
When I was a mere lad I worked at various gas stations. Back then as the attendant we pumped the gas, had a coin changer on our belt and a big wad of rolled up bills in our shirt pocket. We pumped the gas, got customers packs of cigarettes, a quart of oil, or both.
We collected the cash payment as hardly anyone used a credit card then. We pushed our coin changer for the correct coins and pulled out our wad of bills to provide final change to the customers all day long, even during peak rush times. Calculators weren’t even a thing yet.
By the way, I also really did walk to elementary school every day, even through the dead of winter.
So yeah, get off my lawn!
At the end of minute 1,
The worm has traveled 1 inch, then the rubber band stretches 8 inches to double its length taking the worm with it, so at the beginning of minute 2, the rubber band is now 16 inches and the worm is at 2 inches from the start
The rubber band stretches instantaneously, not continuously
This breaks down to an infinite sum of fractions problem and does have a solution
40 years ago we were figuring car and home loans long hand, without a calculator in 10th grade business math. We are doomed as a country.
That one was funny.
I don’t know who thought that would be a good idea for a Barbie Doll but I am betting they were never asked for ideas again
For starters, two is a bet [ב], and
"550" is the "teken" [תקן] in the "tav teken" stamp/standard/seal of quality from:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standards_Institute_of_Israel
Which is abbreviated as מת"י, but written on their sign as "מתי". As such,
"מתי" is really just a big "when" displayed inside of outside calipers. Actually there's more to it than that, in case anyone happens to be interested (I just never know when this stuff will come in handy!).
"With some understanding of their limitations and usage, these instruments can provide a high degree of accuracy and repeatability. They are especially useful when measuring over very large distances.." (Wikipedia)
I'm a fan of signs. All kinds of info to observe out there! Lots of surprises!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claw_crane#Legality
What do YOU think 550 divided by two is?
🤡
But, they don't. They are a very insecure, self-conscious demographic.
340-17 is quicker.
575.2 / 2 = 287.5. Not 275.
(I know, it was a typo, but I couldn’t resist.)
Same here. Thought 225 then caught myself. It’s sort of the math equivalent of a tongue twister.
Maffs be racisss!!
Oh my....it’s weird that people would just “guess” instead of doing the math in their head. It’s even weirder that they don’t know HOW to do the math in their head!
It does, or does not have a solution?
You can ask someone “How many times do you take half of a fraction before you reach zero?”
It reminds me of Limit N=0->infinity for (1/N).
It’s asymptotic to zero while never achieving zero...
True, but there is a slight trick. Since the rubber band stretches at the end of the minute, the worm travels the final inch before the rubber band stretches
I was actually thinking along these lines during my walk tonight and considering squares and cubes of numbers, and thought about 1x1 = 1-squared, 1x1x1 = 1-cubed…I’m horrible at math and it’s taken me a long time to grasp the abstractness of a many post-algebraic concepts, but I do strive to keep learning to get my head around it.
For all those like me, when considering such trick or abstract math issues, just substitute “X”, “Y”, “Z”, etc. for numbers, and it helps clear things up a bit. I love math but horrible at it. I love physics, and I’m good at it. Go figure…
Does the rubber band stretch away from the beginning towards, the end, so that the caterpillar has 17 inches to go after the first minute?
Or does the band stretch behind the caterpillar, so that it is now on inch 8 of a 17 inch band after the first minute?
Does it stretch equally in both directions? Does one direction stretch more than another, even if both directions stretch?
I disagree. In my case I believe it’s a a fluke, a trick the subconscious mind plays on you until you think about it for a second.
I received my primary education in the 60s and 70’s and would consider the overall quality excellent.
But physics *is* math.
Maffs is RACIST!!!
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