• RandomVideos@programming.dev
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    1 day ago

    What kind of problem gives you the formula and all variable to replace? At this point, why not just write 5•10²•10=?

        • nova_ad_vitum@lemmy.ca
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          1 day ago

          It makes it easy to do the math in your head without a calculator. But still , just tossing out pi=5 is not the way to go about creating these problems.

      • andros_rex@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        Even then, I would want them to leave π in the problem itself. That would be much better for this exercise - teaching that you report “exact” values with π still in them.

        Eg, if I rewrote this problem, I would expect an answer of 1000π.

    • SaharaMaleikuhm@feddit.org
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      1 day ago

      Cause reading comprehension is part of the test. Lots of kids will be able to solve that equation, but there’s a bunch who can’t understand it if it’s presented this way.
      Honestly here they should have done “round pi to two decimal places” or smth.

  • Lembot_0002@lemm.ee
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    2 days ago

    Americans are more fat so they need bigger Pi to keep geometry in touch with reality.

  • Lovable Sidekick@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    Assigning a value of 5 to pi, although ludicrous IRL, doesn’t affect the problem. Plug the values into the equation and it will still give an answer that’s correct in context.

    • Opisek@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      For the benefit of doubt, maybe the test is from an alternate dimension that doesn’t use euclidean space.

    • ftbd@feddit.org
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      2 days ago

      If the goal is to avoid calculations with decimal places, why not just leave Pi in the result?

      • Lovable Sidekick@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        Technically no, because pi equals pi not 5. But you can approximate its value as 3 or 5 or whatever you want, knowing it’s not exact and that your result will only be an approximation. I mean you could also ask how long light takes to reach us from Alpha Centauri if the speed of light is 1000 mph. It’s not, but if you make that a condition of the problem you can do the calculation just fine.

        • bss03@infosec.pub
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          22 hours ago

          I think that reason would make it “Technically Yes”, since False (pi = 5) implies False (cylinders exist) is (vacuously) True (“absurd premise”).

        • bss03@infosec.pub
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          2 days ago

          Cause it’s just a (n-1)-dimensional ball extruded along the remaining axis, or do all 3d shapes exist on (nearly) all 3d metrics?

  • Chris@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    It’s probably trying to teach kids algebra without using decimals. But it does look messed up. Everyone knows at least 3.14, except kids I guess

    • Opisek@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      My dad told me a rhyme to memorize like 15 digits of pi before I knew what pi is at like eight years old I’m guestimating. I remember it ever since.

      • Hofmaimaier@feddit.orgOP
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        2 days ago

        In Terry Pratchett’s wonderfully witty Discworld novel, Going Postal, the topic of pi comes up in a rather humorous and characteristically Pratchettian way.

        The newly appointed Postmaster General, Moist von Lipwig, encounters a rather eccentric inventor named Bloody Stupid Johnson. Bloody Stupid Johnson is known for his, well, stupidly brilliant inventions. One of these inventions is a new kind of postal sorting engine.

        When discussing the design of a wheel for this engine, Bloody Stupid Johnson proudly states that he designed it so that pi is exactly three.

        • dual_sport_dork 🐧🗡️@lemmy.world
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          2 days ago

          This is in contrast with how pi is otherwise consistently expressed on the Disc, which is “three and a bit.”

          Notably, Bloody Stupid Johnson is so skilled/inept that he actually does make pi equal to three within the machine… somehow… which breaks reality in a small amount of space inside it.

          Apparently King David had this skill as well, since this is mentioned twice in the old testament:

          1 Kings 7:23: And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other: it was round all about, and his height was five cubits: and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about.

          • jimmux@programming.dev
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            2 days ago

            Clearly π was equal to 3 in old testament times, but geometry got all screwy when Jesus died for our sines.

    • Wanderer@lemm.ee
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      2 days ago

      I don’t understand. Aren’t fractions better than decimals for algerba?

      Like 22/7 is better than 3.14 when it comes to pi for example.

      We always got taught to do everything as fractions and then convert to units at the last possible moment to reduce errors in rounding.

      • Chris@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        Kiddos would need to know how to divide for that though. I’m just trying to come up with a reason for it lol.

  • hihi24522@lemm.ee
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    2 days ago

    It’s clearly just saying that the surfaces on which the ends of the cylinder lie are metric spaces with distances defined using Chebyshev or Taxicab metrics based on pentagonal tilings of the parabolic plane so the ratio of a circle’s circumference to diameter is 5.

    Since it’s a cylinder we assume the vertical dimension is Euclidean and voila the math checks out geometrically.

    • syreus@lemmy.world
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      I didn’t get to use a calculator IN CLASS until late in my bachelor studies — forget about using them for tests. In a world with Chatgpt we need to teach in a more sterile environment or standards are going to swing into the ditch. My friend who is a grade school teacher has told me some stories that would make your ears bleed.