math help

[TomMoorehouse]

Trying to help my son with homework. ...

How the heck is #13 5/12 and not 50%

How is #10 not 1/36

Photos are teachers answers.

 

[JimZaremski]

How the heck is #13 5/12 and not 50%

depends on whether or not you consider zero to be an even number. believe it or not, that question isn't exactly settled. one could make a case for either answer.

How is #10 not 1/36

because 1 yard is 36 inches. 3 yards is 108. if one inch represents 3 yards (108 inches) then the scale is 1/108. If the question said "3 in:3 yards" then that would be 1/36 scale.

 

[larcor69]

your # 13 landed on the 5th spot of 12 being 5/12 and the other is 3x36= 108

 

[Terry Keeley]

English teacher filling in?

 

[TomMoorehouse]

How the heck is #13 5/12 and not 50%

depends on whether or not you consider zero to be an even number. believe it or not, that question isn't exactly settled.

How is #10 not 1/36

because 1 yard is 36 inches. 3 yards is 108. if one inch represents 3 yards (108 inches) then the scale is 1/108.

I see my error my brain was stuck on 1 inch and one yard being 36 inched.... not 3 yards.

But I believe an even number is any number that can be divided by 2 with no remainder. 0 divided by 2 is 0 with no remainder. Unless you want to argue that zero is not a number.

Ok thanks.

 

[Kevin Krogness]

Glad I'm not in school anymore!!! I guess I'm just I was just born to operate heavy equipment!!!

 

[JimZaremski]

I see my error my brain was stuck on 1 inch and one yard being 36 inched.... not 3 yards.

yeah, when you're talking scale factors you have to put everything in the same units. your kid's doing the correct conversions.

But I believe an even number is any number that can be divided by 2 with no remainder. 0 divided by 2 is 0 with no remainder. Unless you want to argue that zero is not a number.

that's why it's not exactly settled

In my opinion (which is most likely worth nothing to your son's teacher) you could make a persuasive case for both 5/12 or 50%. For the former, you could ask "how can something meant to represent nothing be even or odd?" For the latter, you could use the argument you just made.

 

[moparbarn]

i got lost when my son came home & they were adding a minus. why couldn't you just subtract anymore

? always worked the same & a simpler (to me) way to do math. but then, i learned addition & subtraction on an abacus in grade school - for real! i can remember when calculators weren't allowed in class, now they're required........

 

[Terry Keeley]

Glad I'm not in school anymore!!! I guess I'm just I was just born to operate heavy equipment!!!

Me too!

 

[Ron Jefferson]

*

 

[JimZaremski]

My daughter tells me 0 is neither odd nor even. And she's a geography major. Lol

well, like I said you could make the case either way. if an even number is divisible by 2 with no remainder, then 0 qualifies. but then, 0 is divisible by any number with no remainder. Plus, 0 usually represents nothing (the absence of things.) which can't really be odd or even.

colloquially, 0 tends to be treated as even because it precedes 1.

 

[Ron Jefferson]

*

 

[JimZaremski]

But there can only be one right answer Jim. Which is it?

is this a "you're either with us or against us" question?

 

[Ron Jefferson]

Not sure where you got that out of my post. I was simply hoping someone could help Tom with his question. Oh well...

 

[JimZaremski]

I said you could make a case either way depending on how you consider zero. By one definition zero is an even number. By another definition it's not clear. You said there's only one right answer. Since I don't know what Tom's kid's teacher is looking for, I gave you a pithy response.

 

[Ron Jefferson]

Sorry this got so off track Tom. I'll bow out now.

 

[TomMoorehouse]

I told my son to treat it as not odd or even due to what the teachers answer was

Thanks for everyone's help.

 

[Chris Thomas]

My daughter tells me 0 is neither odd nor even. And she's a geography major. Lol

well, like I said you could make the case either way. if an even number is divisible by 2 with no remainder, then 0 qualifies. but then, 0 is divisible by any number with no remainder. Plus, 0 usually represents nothing (the absence of things.) which can't really be odd or even.

colloquially, 0 tends to be treated as even because it precedes 1.

Jims is correct - I believe they call zero divided by anything "undefined". ...you cannot divide nothing (0) into any amount of groups.

 

[John Beardslee]

My favorite law of probability that I used to share with my students is: "If your parents didn't have any children, chances are you won't either".

I always got a response from them, most couldn't be posted here or said in public!!

Thanks, John

 

[JimZaremski]

sorry if I pissed you off, Ron. I apologize.