Worked in a glass factory where this took place. Building a cinderblock room to house the blowers for a new glass furnace. The machinery wound up barely fitting.
Simple fractions
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Worked in a glass factory where this took place. Building a cinderblock room to house the blowers for a new glass furnace. The machinery wound up barely fitting.
If fractions befuddle them, I wonder what they would think of complex numbers.
concrete masonry unit (CMU) coursing is 8 inches high nominal.. 7 5/8 block & 3/8 mortar joint... 3 common bricks with joints per CMU... 4 roman bricks per CMU... The fun comes in when one shrinks with age and the other swells.. put in control joints because if you don't the deity of your choice will.. now how big is a 2x4.. lol
Spent almost 40 years working for a living and the last 15 as a "special" math teacher. I have spent an inordinate amount of time teaching fractions along with standard order of operations. Most students will not invest even seconds to arrive at an answer. Anything requiring "figuring" or using the mind to deduce a solution is out. The handheld device knows all and gives it with any demand. The "round clock" is analog and "I don't do analog" has been uttered by many students over the years. There is a complete absence of creative imagination/ deductive thought in most youngsters. It is a root cause for America becoming irrelevant on the world stage in the 21st century. Joe
Absolutely correct! I realized that three 3" courses don't add to 8" but memory and time fail me. Actually, the size of a 2x4 is 2x4. Let's talk thickness of OSB sheathing if you want to get into fractions.
deadin
US Veteran
Rough cut or kiln dried??
So what do you "metric" folks do when drawing plans and ordering lumber locally? The conversions aren't necessarily clean....
(Or can you order a metric 2 x 4??)
smoothshooter
Member
Yes, sometimes the spelling here is pretty bad.
I almost always proofread before I post, but still miss something sometimes.
I was taught some amazing skills by an engineering graphics teacher while in my freshman year at VA Tech. He showed me how to see a fixed size in something local, and cast the size out to things I look at. Somehow, I can judge (nearly) exact distances out to 50' or better. It's a learned skill, no longer taught. People think I have a magic skill. It's not. It's a learned thing.
Told the boat owner to pickup six board feet of six quarter teak.
He returned with six pieces of 12"x12"x1/4" teak.
Had to remember how to use long division to convert the M59s 2 25/32" grip screw hole spacing to decimals, a few days ago, while my smartphone was being charged.
The XY table doesn't understand fractions.
He returned with six pieces of 12"x12"x1/4" teak.
Had to remember how to use long division to convert the M59s 2 25/32" grip screw hole spacing to decimals, a few days ago, while my smartphone was being charged.
The XY table doesn't understand fractions.
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I stopped at a chicken place today for lunch. I gave the cashier exactly 47 cents - She called the manager to count it for her. The cashier was not a teenager.
The last time my plumber was at the house - he told me he went to a guy's house to replace a 1/4 hp disposal. He only had a 1/3 hp replacement and the guy wouldn't take it because he wanted the "more powerful" 1/4 hp model.
The last time my plumber was at the house - he told me he went to a guy's house to replace a 1/4 hp disposal. He only had a 1/3 hp replacement and the guy wouldn't take it because he wanted the "more powerful" 1/4 hp model.
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I spent my entire working life in the printing industry. This is a ruler dependent occupation. It was hard to find people that could read a ruler.
But we trained them. It got real interesting when we got some newfangled equipment that was digital, yet all the specifications were in fractions.
This is when I discovered that there were exactly three people in the building that could convert a fraction to a decimal. Myself and two accountants. I had to write a memo. It was discouraging.
But we trained them. It got real interesting when we got some newfangled equipment that was digital, yet all the specifications were in fractions.
This is when I discovered that there were exactly three people in the building that could convert a fraction to a decimal. Myself and two accountants. I had to write a memo. It was discouraging.
Mental Math Calculations - From the Slide Rule Era
Mental Math Calculations - From the Slide Rule Era
The slide rule would give you an answer to three digits.
For this example the digits are 247.
Where is the decimal point?
I do remember reading method/rule that used number of digits to left of decimal and direction the slide moved - and prompt ly forgot it.
Users of slide rules learned to do mental calculations that would give an approximate answer to identify location for the decimal point.
One example of an "approximation" used in calculations:
For Pi (3.14159) I would use either "3" or the "Square Root of Ten" picking which would clear another term in the calculation.
My "mental approximation" was usually within ten percent of the actual value.
I still do the "mental approximations" regularly, and still get very close to the "CALCULATOR" answer.
Bekeart
Mental Math Calculations - From the Slide Rule Era
The slide rule would give you an answer to three digits.
For this example the digits are 247.
Where is the decimal point?
I do remember reading method/rule that used number of digits to left of decimal and direction the slide moved - and prompt ly forgot it.
Users of slide rules learned to do mental calculations that would give an approximate answer to identify location for the decimal point.
One example of an "approximation" used in calculations:
For Pi (3.14159) I would use either "3" or the "Square Root of Ten" picking which would clear another term in the calculation.
My "mental approximation" was usually within ten percent of the actual value.
I still do the "mental approximations" regularly, and still get very close to the "CALCULATOR" answer.
Bekeart
EXAMPLE - Quick Math
After reading the High Praises for Duke's Mayo I decided to check local availability.
One 32 oz jar $4.29
12 32 oz jars for $97.72 - That is ABOUT $8 EACH ...
I can't make up this ****. - Anon
Duke's Light Mayonnaise - 32 fl oz - $4.29
Duke's Mayonnaise Light 32 Fl oz (Pack of 12) $97.72
https://www.kroger.com/search?query=duke's mayonnaise&searchType=suggestions&fulfillment=all
Bekeart
After reading the High Praises for Duke's Mayo I decided to check local availability.
One 32 oz jar $4.29
12 32 oz jars for $97.72 - That is ABOUT $8 EACH ...
I can't make up this ****. - Anon
Duke's Light Mayonnaise - 32 fl oz - $4.29
Duke's Mayonnaise Light 32 Fl oz (Pack of 12) $97.72
https://www.kroger.com/search?query=duke's mayonnaise&searchType=suggestions&fulfillment=all
Bekeart
Re: OP. It is what it is. Fractional measuring is no longer relevant except in the US. The rest of the world is metric. I don't like it. I don't have to like it. But, I have to deal with it. We all do. Do younger folks care? I doubt it. For anyone working in many technical fields, medicine, etc., it is a non-issue.
Does it make any difference in practical everyday use? Yes. The decimal system is much easier to use than especially in calculation, etc. Given time, transition from fractional to metric which was at one time attempted by force of law will be accomplished by practical usage. Proof is as close as your tool box. Just try to do any work on the motor of your car, etc. You'll need metric sized tools, etc. Sincerely. bruce.
Does it make any difference in practical everyday use? Yes. The decimal system is much easier to use than especially in calculation, etc. Given time, transition from fractional to metric which was at one time attempted by force of law will be accomplished by practical usage. Proof is as close as your tool box. Just try to do any work on the motor of your car, etc. You'll need metric sized tools, etc. Sincerely. bruce.
So did my high school analytic geometry/calculus teacher as well as a number of my math, chemistry and physics professors. I found it was easier to learn how to use a slide rule than drive my TI 55, which came with a 9/16" thick instruction manual.
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Protocall_Design
Vendor
Around here, a 2 x 4 is actually 1-1/2 x 3-1/2.
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Guess its no use bringing up Rods or Chains for measuring land in surveying, LOL
Having used inch and metric in machine tools, metric is much easier and the standard is more accurate, Oh, then their are gauge blocks…….most have no clue…
Having used inch and metric in machine tools, metric is much easier and the standard is more accurate, Oh, then their are gauge blocks…….most have no clue…
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Maybe the ones that were "a silly millimeter longer?"
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Measuring something is just another way of judging. How intolerant. Maybe the board doesn't like to be described in metric terms.
LVSteve
Member
"But teacher, if half of this is imaginary, why do I have to count it?"
OR:
"I don't know who dreamed up complex numbers, but he or she sure has a sick imagination."
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LVSteve
Member
I used to work in high end metrology, and some of the theory folks hated us, because at the end of the day, measurements proved or disproved their pet theories. Shoot down a great theory, and somebody didn't get to go on an overseas lecture tour or present to a Royal Society. There were days I checked under my car for stray brake fluid after sending back unwelcome results.
I used to work in a rural county in Maryland that was going suburban, so I had to use and convert these measurements all the time. The old time measurements were copied and recopied down the chain of title until a new survey was done.
Because knowing these measurements was still relevant, I used to teach about them at my company's agents conferences so that our agents would have an understanding in case they ran across the old time measurements.
Kid in my daughters grade wanted to be an anesthesiologist but has ZERO Math Skills. No way I would want that kid administering IV knockout stuff…. Convert patient weight in pounds to Kilograms, cross reference needed dose in micro-liters, and inject.
Too little and patient will feel surgery.
Too much and patient will never feel anything again.
CORRECT MATH IS IMPORTANT
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So did my high school analytic geometry/calculus teacher as well as a number of my math, chemistry and physics professors. I found it was easier to learn how to use a slide rule than drive my TI 55, which came with a 9/16" thick instruction manual.
Sounds similar to what happened to me when I was working. A deed plotting program was developed for computers, but I couldn't make it work to save my life. So for 38 years I plotted legal descriptions by hand using a protractor, scale and compass.
Nothing wrong with that.
My Dad was a carpenter and home builder from 1963 to 1999 or so. And darn good.
He tells me, around 1984, a government study commissioned a house to be built using metric drawings. Nothing lined up, probably because all the trades were using standard measurement tools (and resistant to metric system).
Imagine calling for precuts 233.83875 centimeters!
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Cdog
Member
My wife told me a simple fraction doesn't exist.
Canoe portages in BWCA and Quetico Park are measured in Rods. A good Boy Scout knows the 320 Rod portage is going to take awhile (and muddy and uphill both ways)
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Hard to fathom.
Clever fellow!. I know what you did.
Ole Joe Clark
Absent Comrade
Can anyone convert fractions to decimals, decimals to fractions? (3 place, maybe 4 place decimals) these days? Like these: .125, .312, .5, .437, .687, or heaven forbid .0625?
Have a blessed day,
Leon
Have a blessed day,
Leon
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