Math Whiz's!
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Thread Starter
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 15,960
Likes: 7
From: USC
Here's the reason why:
So I just started Alg2 for my Sophmore year in high school and we had our first quiz yesterday.
This I thought was an easy 2 points as said on the quiz. All I had to do was solve the problem and write the equation. This is what I did.
It asks for the answer, so I put $3.
It asks for the Set up equation, so I put 150/1 = 450/x. you get 150x=450, x=3. simple, right? i've known how to do this for ages. wrong.
So today we correct the quiz and when we get to the problem, that my equation to solve this is wrong.
My teacher wanted it to be 1/150 yen=x dollars/450 yen. the yen's cancel, so it would be 1/150=x dollars/450. cross multiply and you get 150x dollars=450. divide by 150 dollars and you get x=$3.
it was only 1/2 point off of a 2 point question and I still got an A on the test, so i'm not complaining; I'm just baffled. The question never said to include units to get the equation right. He has never said to include the units in the equation in class, and he has never demonstrated that in class.
he asked me as I questioned him about his way, which is in no way wrong, "how would you know what unit to put the x=3 as? x=3 does not get you the answer, so you got it wrong." well so did half the class. the question clearly states that it asks for dollars. that's how i know what to put on the 3. if I can get the right answer with the proportion 150/1=450/x what's wrong with that? it is the same thing without the clutter of the words. if I got the wrong unit in the answer, I could believe it.
i don't know if this is getting me ready for some unit analysis stuff but I really don't get his reasoning for this. enlighten me.
So I just started Alg2 for my Sophmore year in high school and we had our first quiz yesterday.
This I thought was an easy 2 points as said on the quiz. All I had to do was solve the problem and write the equation. This is what I did.
It asks for the answer, so I put $3.
It asks for the Set up equation, so I put 150/1 = 450/x. you get 150x=450, x=3. simple, right? i've known how to do this for ages. wrong.
So today we correct the quiz and when we get to the problem, that my equation to solve this is wrong.
My teacher wanted it to be 1/150 yen=x dollars/450 yen. the yen's cancel, so it would be 1/150=x dollars/450. cross multiply and you get 150x dollars=450. divide by 150 dollars and you get x=$3.
it was only 1/2 point off of a 2 point question and I still got an A on the test, so i'm not complaining; I'm just baffled. The question never said to include units to get the equation right. He has never said to include the units in the equation in class, and he has never demonstrated that in class.
he asked me as I questioned him about his way, which is in no way wrong, "how would you know what unit to put the x=3 as? x=3 does not get you the answer, so you got it wrong." well so did half the class. the question clearly states that it asks for dollars. that's how i know what to put on the 3. if I can get the right answer with the proportion 150/1=450/x what's wrong with that? it is the same thing without the clutter of the words. if I got the wrong unit in the answer, I could believe it.
i don't know if this is getting me ready for some unit analysis stuff but I really don't get his reasoning for this. enlighten me.
Registered User
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 2,256
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From: Miami
well if you take it up any further than him, ie. principal blah blah, then youll get on his bad side. Personally you just have one of those diick math teachers like I had back in high school who like it "their way" or "no way". at least he gave you partial...
Registered User
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 2,108
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From: Seattle, WA
Originally Posted by MrForgetable,Sep 17 2004, 07:55 PM
he asked me as I questioned him about his way, which is in no way wrong, "how would you know what unit to put the x=3 as? x=3 does not get you the answer, so you got it wrong." well so did half the class. the question clearly states that it asks for dollars. that's how i know what to put on the 3. if I can get the right answer with the proportion 150/1=450/x what's wrong with that? it is the same thing without the clutter of the words. if I got the wrong unit in the answer, I could believe it.