Modern maths

ianlaw · Member

Modern maths

Hewy54 · Senior Member

In various countries we drive on either the left or the right. Neither is better, it just works because we all use the same convention for that particular country.
I began teaching in 1976 and taught BODMAS. It works because the whole world goes by the same convention. If you came up with the answer of 70 you are wrong. If your calculator gives an answer of 70 it is wrong and should not be used for such calculations.

rgren2 · Guru

Hewy54 wrote:
In various countries we drive on either the left or the right. Neither is better, it just works because we all use the same convention for that particular country.
I began teaching in 1976 and taught BODMAS. It works because the whole world goes by the same convention. If you came up with the answer of 70 you are wrong. If your calculator gives an answer of 70 it is wrong and should not be used for such calculations.

Thank goodness another teacher chimes in. Different states had slightly different methods, but the order of operation stayed the same.

Dick0 · Guru

ianlaw wrote:
I just used my calculator and the answer was 70.

If you are using your phone or PC, switch the calculator to "Scientific" and you will get the right answer.

dorian · Guru

You can use Google's calculator:

https://www.google.com/search?q=5%2B2%C3%9710

Corndoggy · Senior Member

Dick0 wrote:
ianlaw wrote:
I just used my calculator and the answer was 70.
If you are using your phone or PC, switch the calculator to "Scientific" and you will get the right answer.

Did that and the answer is 25 on both types of calculators.

Corndoggy · Senior Member

Just a thought. Maybe they got it wrong in The Hitch-hikers Guide To The Galaxy. The real answer is not 42, it's 25

Hewy54 · Senior Member

Corndoggy wrote:
Just a thought. Maybe they got it wrong in The Hitch-hikers Guide To The Galaxy. The real answer is not 42, it's 25

The real answer is always 42. You just have to find the right question..

Dick0 · Guru

Corndoggy wrote:
Dick0 wrote:
ianlaw wrote:
I just used my calculator and the answer was 70.
If you are using your phone or PC, switch the calculator to "Scientific" and you will get the right answer.
Did that and the answer is 25 on both types of calculators.

You have Smart calculators.

biggrin

watsea · Guru

I used the calculator feature on my Samsung phone and writing the equation without brackets and not pressing the equals (=) button until the end, and the answer came as 25. Looks like its calculator knows BODMAS or BOMDAS as the way I was taught.

dorian · Guru

I wonder if young people know what a dozen is?

I recently tried to find a dozen eggs on the Coles web site and was surprised to find that the word "dozen" was not recognised.

https://www.coles.com.au/search/products?q=dozen

I then examined a carton of eggs and found no mention of the word. The contents were simply described as "12 <whatever size> eggs". Maybe the retailers are prepping future generations for a pack of 10?

Sarco Harris · Senior Member

I believe that in NZud, eggs are already sold in cartons of 10

Whenarewethere · Guru

I don't really eat eggs. Other half only eats them occasionally. We buy half a dozen now & then

A pack of 5 eggs will be interesting!

I suppose it's a bit like a dozen flowers. 10 just doesn't look right, so have stopped buying flowers.

watsea · Guru

In recent months, I purchased a pack of 10 eggs. The pack was cheaper than a dozen pack. The 10 pack was cheaper than a dozen pack but I noticed that it was a 10egg pack. The price per egg could be a catch for some if they were not concentrating.
A bit like the buying power for lollies when decimal currency came in 1966. Before Feb 1966, one could get 12d worth, ie maybe 1d each or 2 for 1d.
Then with decimal currency, 12d became 10 cents. So then lollies became 1c each or 2 for 1c. Us kids had our lolly buying power cut by 20%.

dorian · Guru

Coles' web site uses price per 100g for its per-unit pricing rather than price per egg.

Craig1 · Guru

Coles have also taken to putting one very small egg in the carton frequently, to keep the total weight down to the stated packet weight.

Gundog · Guru

Craig1 wrote:
Coles have also taken to putting one very small egg in the carton frequently, to keep the total weight down to the stated packet weight.

Australian consumer law requires supermarkets to display unit pricing on their shelf price points.

Remember Coles/Woolworths dont pack their eggs. generally they are contracted to a egg producer, if you were the producer would you not ensure the total egg weight is spot on ont under or over. Also 10 pack of eggs is common in NZ.

This gives the price of the product based on a standard unit of measurement. For example, a 2kg packet of rice may be $4.80, but its unit price will be listed in smaller writing on the label as 24c per 100g.

Dick0 · Guru

It's about time we totally moved to decimal weights and measures. 10 eggs packaging should be the go. Get rid of dozen and keep things simple by decimal.

Corndoggy · Senior Member

You know what happens when a supermarket product weight goes down, the price stays the same.

Went to the supermarket today and seen the price of Cadbury chocolate bars. Last week on special 3 for $15, $5 bucks each.
Today on special $3 each. And they're not having us on.