The totally off-topic thread

[Princess Fiona]

It is actually 50 spacings. Isn't it? But 51 dividers.

I'm hopeless at maths riddles but that's also what I thought

 

[whatmeworry]

It is actually 50 spacings. Isn't it? But 51 dividers.

That is why I added the ... as I know in my head how many posts are required. Not quite sure what the equation is but I could it explain it in words which would be less with a nice equation.

 

[drron]

Well it's true.just checked into the Hilton Swindon and the room doesn't come with soap!:shock:

 

[Mal]

Well it's true.just checked into the Hilton Swindon and the room doesn't come with soap!:shock:

Wow. I knew Hilton was having cost cutting measures, but that takes the cake!

 

[cove]

On the QF A330-200 last night a gentleman tried to enter what he guessed was a toilet door immediately past the curtain on the left hand side. That door is to a coat hanging area and I think it is barely 300 mm wide. Lucky there was a staff member to help out to usher him to the real door.

 

[Shelf]

That's a separate issue, can you keep a secret?

Discretion and secrets are cousins.

 

[JohnK]

Well first people need to actually have the basic arithmetic skills like multiplication and division. I would not laugh...

I wouldn't laugh either.

Apparently 67% of the people have a problem with basic arithmetic. I am so lucky I am in the other 45%.

 

[cove]

I am with you on that one JohnK but the other 29% are Not Sure.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

I wouldn't laugh either.

Apparently 67% of the people have a problem with basic arithmetic. I am so lucky I am in the other 45%.

I've got one word for you JohnK - that is ridiculous!

 

[medhead]

That is why I added the ... as I know in my head how many posts are required. Not quite sure what the equation is but I could it explain it in words which would be less with a nice equation.

I understand completely. Helping with year 8 maths at the moment. "Dad what's the formula for ...." I don't know area of the square minus 1/2 the area of the circle. No formula really. But trying explaining something I just know to someone else who doesn't just know.

 

[anat0l]

That is why I added the ... as I know in my head how many posts are required. Not quite sure what the equation is but I could it explain it in words which would be less with a nice equation.

Well, one possible way to explain it is this way.

So you need one post every 3 metres.

A fence with only one post is, well, not a fence, or a fence of only 0 metres.

A fence with two posts makes a fence of 3 metres in length.

A fence with three posts makes 6 metres of length. (You can draw this and convince yourself). 6 / 3 + 1 = 2 + 1 = 3. Notice in the previous case, 3 / 3 + 1 = 1 + 1 = 2.

Now if you draw it and back calculate it, if the fence needed to be 24 metres in length, you would need 24 / 3 + 1 = 8 + 1 = 9 posts.

So now it follows that the number of posts for a 150 metre long fence will be: 150 / 3 + 1 = 51 posts.

I understand completely. Helping with year 8 maths at the moment. "Dad what's the formula for ...." I don't know area of the square minus 1/2 the area of the circle. No formula really. But trying explaining something I just know to someone else who doesn't just know.

There's a funny balance that goes in here. Formulae are good and necessary, but formulas are only useful when one understands when and where you can use them.

At the junior schooling level, this is not a big issue, as many of the problems set in exams rely on usually only one formula. Most students, if they know their basic formulas, should be able to complete compulsory education maths with at least a passing grade. For students who are aiming for higher grades or wanting to do advanced mathematics (or any mathematics for that matter) in senior high school or university, this is no where near enough.

In many proper problems, you need to apply more than one formula, or adjust the results of a formula. Sometimes the formula you think that applies in a situation turns out to be completely wrong, for one reason or another. Other times, there is no "set" formula, but the problem has to be deduced by creating an algebra equation.

I used to reinforce this a lot to my thermodynamics students in my tutorials. Most of them are too used to looking at a problem and trying to find the one formula that spits out the answer. It just doesn't work that way. Worse, some of them find a formula that looks like it is correct, and just plug away, even though they get an answer which can make no sense, e.g. using a formula for gas when the matter involved is liquid; or using an erroneous formula and not thinking twice even though they have got a negative answer when it cannot make sense.

It's very difficult to convince grade 8s etc. of this, because they're usually already up to their eyeballs trying to understand the slew of formulae without having to worry about applying the wrong formula. It's probably not too healthy to try too hard convincing them, at least until they are very comfortable with the formulae they are grappling with. Putting formulas in order to solve a complex problem is what we in school used to call a "trick"; in reality, it wasn't really a "trick", it was fairly straightforward thinking (at least, we realised that after a while).

 

[JohnK]

Well it's true.just checked into the Hilton Swindon and the room doesn't come with soap!:shock:

Bar of soap or liquid soap?

Holiday Inn Express Clarke Quay Singapore only has liquid soap dispenser.

 

[drross]

Congrats anat01 PHD.

excellent. Congrats

 

[jetlagger]

Bar of soap or liquid soap?

Holiday Inn Express Clarke Quay Singapore only has liquid soap dispenser.

Quite uniform for the HIX properties.
Great cost saving idea.

 

[serfty]

...
#2

Bill is constructing a new fence 150 metres long from steel posts and wire. How many posts will Bill need to complete his new fence if the posts are placed 3 metres apart from each other?

The answer may be either 50 or 51 depending on construction.

Here's a plan of a possible 51 post design:

___

Here's a plan of a possible 50 post design:
○

[edit]

OK, not everyone uses windows and with the correct fonts ... posts now edited ...​

[/edit]

(For this question, IMHO, 'long' is not indicative of anything other than the total length of the fence)

 

[whatmeworry]

Yes but if a rooster lays an egg at the very top of a slanted roof. Which side is the egg going to roll off on, left or right?

 

[JohnK]

Quite uniform for the HIX properties.
Great cost saving idea.

Obviously their cost savings are not reflected in the room rates. Hotel is OK but they wanted close to SGD200 for the room which is ridiculous. I ended up using 10,000 IHG points + USD70 which is still way over the top.

Couldn't get free wifi to work until this morning. Probably overloaded.

 

[JohnM]

Yes but if a rooster lays an egg at the very top of a slanted roof. Which side is the egg going to roll off on, left or right?

The more amazing thing would be to see a rooster lay an egg :shock:.

 

[anat0l]

Yes but if a rooster lays an egg at the very top of a slanted roof. Which side is the egg going to roll off on, left or right?

Since when can a rooster lay an egg? Unless the rooster can somehow obtain and handle an egg and very carefully place it down (i.e. "lay it down"), of which then, assuming we are on earth, it will roll to the side corresponding to the downward sloping direction.

"This is the police! We have the roof surrounded! Lay down your eggs!"

 

[shellthom]

Is it just me and my imagination or are people getting more inconsiderate by the day?

Yes. To me it seems to be the new normal is to be selfish/inconsiderate/ungrateful and then complain to others how hard done by they are. (thinking of specific people/events but it does seem to be a trend to me)