Simple Maths Problem
Discussion
Toltec said:
dr_gn said:
Worded incorrectly for the answer they gave, NOT ambiguously. Their answer was stated on page 1 of this thread BTW.
I can draw a diagram to explain it if you like, but it’s really not difficult to understand once you get beyond what you automatically tend to calculate vs. what they actually ask.
Just asked the question of two very smart people, 50/50 split on the answer, however the 7/48 was partially because he took it that the question must be non-trivial as I had asked it so chose the less obvious answer. Which is the point you are making clearly.I can draw a diagram to explain it if you like, but it’s really not difficult to understand once you get beyond what you automatically tend to calculate vs. what they actually ask.
Interestingly if you want to pick hairs the idea that two cakes could actually be identical was questioned, however we reached the hypothesis that the cakes had been produced from a master cake using a quantum level duplication device of some kind and the slices cut almost instantaneously thereafter.
I guess it comes down to assessing how likely it was the setter made a mistake or not, if you do not know the person or have not encountered previous tests set by this person, or at a lower utility similar tests by other people, then it becomes harder to assign a probability to this. I decided that the balance of probability was the question was poorly worded and therefore chose the answer that the setter obviously expected to receive.
It’s as much about wording as maths, but I really can’t see how anyone could assume the answer related to a single cake - the wording is not even ambiguous - it’s definitely plural, not singular.
The only way the answer could be 7/24 was if it explicitly said “...a cake...”
Or am I missing something more subtle in the wording or maths?
Einion Yrth said:
After consideration, it is clear that the "correct" answer is 7/48. It is also clear that the setter merely wished to test the students' ability to find the lowest common denominator and perform a subtraction between fractions.
Conclusion; the setter's an idiot.
Yup. Plus it’s a revision book for SATS, so the last thing a 9 year old needs is to be confused/frustrated when they’re already feeling a bit of pressure, and trying to learn.Conclusion; the setter's an idiot.
Gassing Station | Science! | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff