This is good fun, although it vaguely reminds me of some math lessons I attended as a kid.
25/5=14
From Ma and Pa Kettle Back on the Farm (1951).
vendredi 10 août 2007
Is it really easy to multiply a number by 10?
It seems so easy to multiply a number by 10. Just write a zero at its right, and that's it.
Well, this only means that it is easy to write down the number you obtain when you multiply any number by 10, when you use a base-10 system. Do I really know anything about the number I write down?
I can just as easily write down any mulitplication by 117 in a base-117 system (just write a zero). Does this mean that I am actually able to handle easily a multiplication by 117? I don't think so.
The ease that I feel with the multiplication by 10 is absolutely not sound. I just know the recipe I have to apply to write that number down in a base-10 system. Actually, I know no more of the number I obtain when I multiply by 10, than of the number I obtain when I multiply by 117.
It is really not clear what "calculation" means.
It looks like the so-called "calculation skills" are merely the skills needed to write down a number.
Well, this only means that it is easy to write down the number you obtain when you multiply any number by 10, when you use a base-10 system. Do I really know anything about the number I write down?
I can just as easily write down any mulitplication by 117 in a base-117 system (just write a zero). Does this mean that I am actually able to handle easily a multiplication by 117? I don't think so.
The ease that I feel with the multiplication by 10 is absolutely not sound. I just know the recipe I have to apply to write that number down in a base-10 system. Actually, I know no more of the number I obtain when I multiply by 10, than of the number I obtain when I multiply by 117.
It is really not clear what "calculation" means.
It looks like the so-called "calculation skills" are merely the skills needed to write down a number.
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