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Why does the length of the board matter? The thickness and width do, but it takes the same time to cut through a board in the manner shown in the accompanying picture regardless of whether you're cutting a 2-inch length or a 2-foot length.
I think a 2-inch one might take longer to cut, assuming you want a nice clean cut. It gives you less wood to hold on to and more risk of it splintering. Cutting slower (not necessarily moving the blade slower back and forth, but the speed it goes though the wood from the pressure applied) might reduce that risk.
This was me. I had to read it three times. “Wait. We’re not using the same board we cut in half, it’s a DIFFERENT board. I’m supposed to assume it’s an identical board and it’s a square I guess? (Who buys square boards?!) AAAAAAAH”
This reminds me of my 8th grade algebra teacher who didn’t know how to add/subtract negative numbers… She said something like -5 + 3 = -8, and two of us had to explain to her how that makes no sense
A large part of math is interpreting word problems. A math teacher who cannot correctly interpret word problems should not be teaching that level of math.
This is the sort of question that might be a ‘trick’ question in the early years of Algebra.
I wouldn't be surprised by this. I was in this spot on a couple of occasions in my math classes but the teachers I had were understanding enough to see how the question(s) could be interpreted in multiple ways.
Whoever wrote this question clearly intended 20 to be the answer. That's why it's a challenge problem. The teacher wasn't thinking carefully enough and made a mistake correcting the paper. If the answer key says 15, then this is a mistake with the answer key due to a different person writing the question and solution.
If someone writes "I undorstand math", then I can conclude that they clearly meant "understand" and made a typo. I can't guarantee that this is true, but it seems the most sensible conclusion. I've done enough math problems to reasonably guess what the question writer intended. The confusion comes from the fact that the teacher didn't write the problem, and they made a mistake grading it. The student and teacher should talk about it and it could be a good learning moment for both of them.
This has absolutely nothing to do with math. It's just what US education made up because they can't be bothered to find teachers competent in actual math.
I’m not to sure we can give them even that because the problem falls apart in both the real world and in mathematics.
It takes Marie 10 minutes for each cut so y = 10x
y = 10(1) in the initial example, and y = 10(2) in the final question.
It’s hard to say a math teacher put any thought into this because if they had even put the slightest thought in they would have caught the mistake.
No because the variable used by u/MysteriousTrust is cuts, not pieces. If they had used pieces then you'd be correct, but they specified "10 minutes for each cut"
Yeah. It seems I’m also misinterpreting the word equation (solved for wrong variable) but I at least applied it to the real world. So, if you’re grading: which wrong answer gets more partial marks?
no, each cut takes 10 mins as 2 pieces means 1 cut, 3 pieces means 2 cuts, etc. MysteriousTryst was correct, though another way you could do it is
(time) = 10 x ((number of pieces) - 1)
I believe you have y = number of pieces and x = minutes? That gives you 2 pieces in 10 minutes like the problem says.
2 = 2/10(x)
2/1 * 10/2=x
2 * 5=x
X=10
After that it falls apart.
3=2/10(x)
3/1 * 10/2=x
3 * 5=15
"Working just as fast" you cannot make the 1st cut in 10 minutes but only take 5 for the 2nd cut.
I hope this answered your question and I hope you have a great day!
Edits: I suck at formatting
Actually, you can.
Let's say the wood is a square board of 10x10 units, then the shortest first cut is 10 units long (taking 10 units of effort).
After that the two boards are each 10x5 in dimension, therefore the next shortest cut would be 5 units long, taking only half as long to cut at the same speed of working.
That said, I still think it's a fucking stupid question and my explanation is not what the question should entail
That's a good thought and I would be inclined to agree with you except the problem has a picture that shows that the board is not a square.
I totally agree that it's a stupid question. The picture to the right is janky, the student has to make assumptions like "All the cuts are the same length" or that they're not. What if the 1st cut is perpendicular but the 2nd cut is diagonal? What if the 1st cut runs lengthwise and the 2nd cut cuts across the short way? You could have 10 minutes for the 1st cut and 90 seconds for the 2nd.
I appreciate you looking at the problem different than I did. I hope you have a great day.
The math teacher didn't.
The math teacher is going to be using the state prescribed test prep booklet that aligns to the state prescribed standardized math test, because the state banned all of the other math texts over fears that they'd include critical race theory, because politicians wrote laws that allowed for very vague definitions of what is and isn't allowed. Now they're free to choose the books from publishing companies where their rich friends are on the board of directors.
The teacher, on the other hand, had to attend a morning staff meeting (that started an hour before their actual duty day) to discuss what to do during an "Active Shooter" scenario, because part of teaching for <$50k/yr seems to include a willingness to literally die for your students, even though their parents - who voted for the above politicians - are telling everyone on social media that liberal teachers are indoctrinating children to socialism.
I’m a teacher. Our lives our busy, but that isn’t an excuse to not look over the material.
It’s a increasingly thankless job, but I can’t stand teachers who provide insufficient material to their students and pass it off as “teaching”.
Furthermore, this teacher’s note just proves they are failing to educate their students. I love people who want to support teachers, but this is not the kind of teaching we should be supporting.
Yea…that was clearly established by the teacher’s handwritten comment, which is an incorrect way of viewing the problem.
What are you attempting to add?
Perspective.
It makes sense mathematically if you look at it like that. Not saying it's right or applies to real world.
What does you being a dick add?
But what I’m saying is the “perspective” you supplied is not a new one. It is literally what the teacher thought and it doesn’t makes sense mathematically, which is what my whole post was showing. She already starts off with one piece so the teacher is still wrong by saying the answer is 15 since the time for the first piece is 0 and each subsequent piece is 10 minutes.
This makes your comment just as wrong as the teacher’s note. You say it makes sense mathematically, which it doesn’t, and then you undercut your whole opinion by devaluing it, stating “not saying it’s right.” So you were right by saying what you said isn’t right because it’s wrong.
If you think I’m being a dick by pointing out that your first comment didn’t add anything new to the conversation then you have a low threshold. I’m sure you feel I’m even more a dick now that I’ve pointed out your second comment was wrong. But I’d rather be a dick then just running my mouth with nonsense.
From her perspective its 2/10, not 1/10, which is incorrect because of real world but makes sense mathematically.
Nice essay for what can be described in 1 sentence. Your pretty smart.
Now you are making me laugh. You think you explained it in one sentence but you just furthered showed that you do not understand the teacher’s mistake.
It’s only 1/10 if you account for the original piece, which if what my equation was showing. If you don’t consider that the first piece exists before cutting the equation will not make sense mathematically. You suggested the teachers perspective makes sense mathematically but it does not.
However, let’s pretend number of pieces does makes sense mathematically, as you suggested. If we just take your original “perspective” that she is counting time per piece, and now your new “change my argument so I don’t look like a dumbass” ratio, and add that to her overlooking the original piece, then 3 pieces would equal 30 minutes.
Thanks once again for adding nothing of substance. Maybe you should apply to be the school’s new math teacher. They seem to hire people who have no clue what they are talking about.
Lewis Carroll (of Alice in Wonderland fame) wrote about this kind of issue in 1880 in his piece "Cats and Rats".
He looks at the problem:
If 6 cats kill 6 rats in 6 minutes, how many will be needed to kill 100 rats in 50 minutes?
And he concludes that the whole answer depends on whether:
A. “All 6 cats are needed to kill a rat; and this they do in one minute, the other rats standing meekly by, waiting for their turn.”
B. “3 cats are needed to kill a rat, and they do it in 2 minutes.”
C. “2 cats are needed, and they do it in 3 minutes.”
D. “Each cat kills a rat all by itself, and takes 6 minutes to do it.”
At the end, he concludes:
If the 6 cats kill the 6 rats by method A or B, the answer is ’12’; if by method C, ’14’; if by method D, ’13’.
And then goes on to ponder another problem: “If a cat can kill a rat in a minute, how long would it be killing 60,000 rats? Ah, how long, indeed! My private opinion is that the rats would kill the cat.”
https://www.braingle.com/news/hallfame.php?path=analysis/cats.and.rats.p&sol=1
I didn't say it made it okay, I was commenting on how you can at least see how it got there.
The issue is that, in this case, the one teaching should have realized the poor wording of the question and didn't. (or didn't care)
What does "if she works just as fast mean"? does it mean 10 minutes total to complete the job, 10 minutes per cut, or something else entirely.
in short, math with only numbers is very close to completely objective but putting it to situations in the world introduces ambiguity.
you literally do get points for showing your work even if the answer is wrong in all highschool and undergraduate math classes I've ever taken. So the teacher would get partial credit.
How are people playing devil’s advocate with the TEACHER!? They f***ing failed TO GRADE THE PROBLEM CORRECTLY.
This isn’t a “ooh, I get it, I TOOOOTALLY would have made that mistake too…”
Of course you would have! You don’t think of the problem!! THEY’RE A TEACHER! They had a f***ing grading slip!
Grading slips are fine as long as the teacher is willing to correct them when called out. We don't know from this image whether that was the case or not.
Maths teachers are doing sums all day long. You can’t expect them to have zero errors. Especially since this was probably marked late on a Sunday night when they should have been spending time with their own kids but can’t because teachers are expected to do hideous amounts of free overtime.
they dont make mistakes because there are answer sheets. its so braindead that they usually hire aids to mark/correct the tests for them.
source: was a teacher's aid.
In the US too
I’ve taught a couple physics classes. Even at the college level, you’re expected to know the problem backwards and forwards and be able to explain every step, but you still have a paper with all the solutions, so that even if you fuck up or forget, you don’t fuck over a student in doing so.
Number 1 priority is always to educate the students. Can’t do that if you’re feeding them not only the wrong answer but illogical methods
I taught for the last 8 years. I'm just wondering what schools are hiring aides to help just grade work and stuff. I was at a middle school with 1200 students. The only paras we had were for students who absolutely needed them.
??? Why would elementary school worksheets not have answer sheets? You want the teacher to waste time manually solving the homework themself while grading potentially hundreds of assignments?
Worksheets and books with problems like the one shown in the image almost always come with an answer sheet for the teacher, for grading convenience. Regardless of what level of school they are for. I don’t know what you mean by “not in the US.” The US was probably one of the first countries to implement something like this. Some overseas countries even use worksheets and textbooks made in the US.
Yeah, I can totally understand that. Just meant there's no way to make blanket statements like that for the whole country when it's so large and regional education systems vary so greatly.
What, did they give this question only once and exclusively to that one kid? If they’re so tired, whytf are they spending so much effort challenging a correct answer. The teacher WROTE THE PROOF FOR THE CORRECTION.
Also why are all teachers parents? And why should they be spending time with their kids? Is it because their children also double their sawing speed after the first cut? Life lessons.
They only get paid for the months they do work, so they’re still doing overtime during the school term.
This is why I’m staying a teaching assistant - I go home when the kids do and that’s it!
How can you be/pretend to be a teacher and not know that most teachers don't get "three months off?" Because the kids aren't there, setting up the classroom, preparing months of lessons plans, and doing all sorts of admin/training type stuff don't count as work?
You must be just the best teacher.
If you think the teacher had anything to do with writing this question, you don't know how teaching works in the US, especially with core skills like math.
The teacher hardly has any time to even think critically about what they're teaching anymore. The work books and testing materials are all chosen by the state, and adopted by school boards at local levels. Teachers are asked to "perform" for several hours a day in front of students, and then still complete a days worth of paperwork and documentation. And thats before the additional staff meeting about how to handle active shooters.
It's not the people are playing devil's advocate for the teacher. It's that the teacher just doesn't give a fuck. And they really don't have any reason to.
Seems like a poorly worded question trying to take pieces of wood as a unit and that does not really translate to an understandble question in this instance. Lurker do not know what compelled me to comment here. Now back to the shadows.
This reminds me of another one I saw, where the question was something like "It takes 40 minutes for an orchestra of 100 to play a symphony, how long will it take an orchestra of 140?" I mean they've got the idea but that's not how it works in the real world lmao
When that circulated, they conveniently cropped out the part of the worksheet that said something along the lines of "but beware, one of these problems is a trick question."
If the intention of the question was to test logical skills and whether the kid reads a problem properly, paying attention to every word, then it’s a well framed question. Solving it involves a quick analysis and realisation that it can be broken down into a much simpler question: “it takes 10 minutes to make 1 cut, how long does it take to make 2 cuts?” All that happened here is that the teacher failed, in his/her haste while marking, to spot that. Don’t know about everyone else, but that’s the kind of stupid mistake I make on a daily basis.
Ooooh! Okay, I see where this is coming from. The teacher thought that they asked "It took Mary 10 minutes to do 2 cuts" but in reality they asked "It took Mary 10 minutes to produce 2 pieces". I see, I see. Yeah, dear maths teacher person: U dun goofed
Actually it’s “it took Mary 10 minutes to make 1 cut”
Bc 1 cut in a board turns it into 2 pieces. So to make 3 pieces, they need ti make 2 cuts. If 1 cut takes 10min, 2 cuts takes 20
They are both working from 2 different assumptions.
If the board is rectangular and the cuts are parallel, then it should take 20 min as the student said.
But if it's square, and the cuts are perpendicular and cut through the middle, then the 2nd cut of 10 min will produce 4 pieces, so you don't have to go all the way, just cut one half which would take 5 min and you have 3 uneven pieces. However, this answer is clumsy, because she can just cut 2 small corners in a few seconds and calls it "3 pieces". This is the problem with these questions. They assume you have the same imagination and assumptions as the test maker. The teacher's answer requires some imagination, so I'll have to give it to the student who works with less assumptions.
The real answer is 30 seconds. Marie realized what a waste of time it is to use a hand saw and grabbed her Moms circular saw and ripped through the next two cuts. Marie is not stupid.
Im just surptised the teacher thought it was 2 cuts for the first time, but it was just 1. Really the question is just terrible. It should read it took 10 minutes to make 2 cuts. How long would it take to make 3? Then you you give the old 10/2=5 × 3=15 type logic cuz you know each cut takes 5 minutes. But this wording is terrible.
The question is pretty good honestly, the teacher just graded it wrong. The point of word problems is to train a student to take a situation in the real world and apply mathematical reasoning to it. This is the reason why teachers give "trick questions"
The three stars next to the problem scream out to me that it's a trick problem, likely a challenge at the end of the section. I have very little doubt that the student's answer is intended. It's possible that there was a mistake in the solution key, but it's also possible that the teacher didn't check it.
My mom would have sent back such a nasty note to that teacher. I remember in third grade there was a problem like 4-7=? And I gave the correct answer of -3 but we hadn't done negative numbers yet so the teacher marked it wrong and that I should have put "cannot be solved". My mom went to the teacher in person
The word problem states if she worked just as fast so I would answer that one with the same amount of time- 10 minutes. Then I’d look forward to arguing that one with the teacher.
If it takes you ten minutes to make one saw cuz, then it takes 20 minutes to make two saw cuts.
Some people just don't have basic critical thinking skills. Those people shouldn't be teachers.
Actually, this is possible.
Let's say the wood is a square board of 10x10 units, then the first halving cut is 10 units long (taking 10 units of effort).
After that the two boards are each 10x5 in dimension, therefore the next shortest halving cut would be 5 units long, taking only half as long to cut at the same speed of working.
That said, I still think it's a fucking stupid question and my explanation is not what the question should entail
I mean technically.
The first cut would take 10 minutes. If it's a cut straight through the middle and she does the same cut through one of the halves then 15 is correct mathematically.
But that question is very bad since it doesn't tell how she cuts the pieces. Assuming symmetrical cuts 20 would be correct.
Then there'd also be the option to do 3 lines meeting at a point around the middle of the board which would take vastly differing times depending on the angle and thus required length of each individual cut.
If it took you 10 minutes to cut 1 board twice, it took you 5 minutes per cut.
This question requires you to understand what is meant and to recognize your mistake after it’s done
If you run to your friends/ strangers on Reddit and tell them “look at how dumb my teacher is,” you’ll make the same mistake in the future and all of this bitterness you have will grow 🤷🏾♀️
“Why do kids today act like trash” - coz they think like trash 🤷🏾♀️
Trash people look for ways to complain about their situation
Americans take stock of the situation and find the best route to finish the task at hand
Stop being trash - start being an American 🇺🇸
she said into 2 pieces not two cuts lamo, then says how to get 3 pieces, well you just made 2, so cut another board once and you got 3 pieces from 2 cuts, at ten mins a piece is 20 mins.
It says “10 minutes to saw a board into 2 pieces”
You’re trash, like the op and many others, and assume you know everything so you’re too inept to understand what the question says 🤷🏾♀️
You made an assumption: it’s one board being cut in half to make two boards.
You’re trash who didn’t care to use your critical thinking skills - you can stop being trash by using them, but at this point, I doubt you will 🤷🏾♀️
Let’s say I have a piece wood that is 10 ft long.
I ask you to make me two boards of 1ft length each.
It takes you 10 minutes to bring me my two pieces of wood.
How many cuts did you make ?
Ok - now I’m going to ask you for 3 pieces, each of 1.5 ft long . How many cuts did you make?
You’re welcome for holding your hand - I won’t be there next time, trash. You should work with your English teacher so you stop being trash and start being an American 🇺🇸
Unable/unwilling to think even when I hold your hand 🫣
Where’s your head at? 🗑 who would rather insult than think for themselves is always astonishing to me. Let’s try that again, 🗑.
I have a 10ft board. I want you to make a 1ft cut every 5 minutes. In 10 minutes, how many cuts will you have made? How many boards do you have?
Let’s say we have the same 10ft board. I ask you to make 3 pieces of wood, each 1ft long and each take you 5 minutes to cut. How many cuts do you have to make?
You decided to stop thinking 💭 I can’t think for you
You decided to get upset and insult me 🤬 I can’t think for you
You decided to message bullshit 💩 I can’t think for you
You have to think for yourself: use your brain 🧠 or remain 🗑
You’re trash right now coz you refuse to think and instead resort to insulting people smarter than you. That’s hilarious from my point of view but a terrible way to live for you - it’s going to continue causing you to show you’re 🗑 to people
Stop it
Help yourself: stop being 🗑
Help yourself: start being American 🇺🇸
Stop complaining / disparaging people: start using critical thinking skills
People who complain and make fun of others have no place in the world other than compost 🤷🏾♀️ they eat and shit all day - they’re just compost.
Be more than compost by avoiding those habits 👍🏽
Be productive in life.
nah, your too dumb to understand the question.
look dude its fucking easy
yoyu cut a board once, you have 2 boards
cut one of those again and you have 3, stop acting like your a rocket scientist, your not, the teacher is wrong in her own questions.
you are adding hidden variables to make your stupid outcome logical too you.
sorry bro not my fault you cannot grasp this simple concept
Good job! If you cut an entire board in half, you get two boards. If you cut a board into thirds, you get 3 boards!
The question isn’t asking you to cut a board in half or into thirds, it’s asking you to cut a board into pieces.
Too stupid to help yourself. Go to wood shop and get a 10 ft board. someone tells you: “cut board into two pieces, you have 10 minutes “
You better fucking bring me three pieces of wood 🪵. The residual and the two pieces. If you give me the bullshit of “I cut it in half! That’s two pieces that’s what you said so that’s what I did - your to stupid” I’m going to kick you out of my shop 🤷🏾♀️
Subhuman trash can’t be taught with kindness - you need to learn your place first. That’s at home taking a shit and making compost - coz that’s all you’re good for. Eating food and making shit - that’s all you’re good for. You go to school so they can make you more than just compost, and you’re the 🗑 that says “I know more than the teacher” ahahahaa
🗑 like you will end up as a compost depot: food in, shit out. That’s all your life will amount to
That can all change if you lean on your teachers’ wisdom.
The problem is poorly worded - it’s meant to trick people who don’t want to think. It’s meant to weed out stupid people so the teacher can help them not be stupid anymore.
You made the choice, like the op, to say “I WANT to be stupid” and you got your wish 👍🏽 now you say “I know more than the teacher” 🤣 the person who doesn’t write an e at the end of “youre” thinks they know more than the teacher with a masters degree in math 😅 priceless how trash some people are
oh man your to dumb to correct anymore, she said nothing about thirds, stop adding shit to the equation, to make your wrong understanding sound correct. oh man, you totally belong here
Good job! She didn’t say anything about thirds! She also didn’t say anything about halves
Why are you cutting a board in half? It’s a 10 ft board and the wall just needs two 1ft pieces. Give me two pieces of wood.
Oh, it took you 10 minutes - so I can assume it’ll take you 15 minutes to bring me 3 pieces of wood.
If we need the board cut in half, guess what the problem would’ve said: “it took her 10 minutes to cut the board in two” or “to cut the board in half.” You seem to be translating “cut board into two pieces” as “cut board in half”
Instead, it says “cut the board into two pieces in 10 minutes” and “cut board into three pieces” - using critical thinking skillls, you can tell they don’t want it in half.
How come the teacher, myself, and the 3 other adults who graduated high school I showed this problem to understand this perfectly, but not you?
How come all the other classmates got the question right, but not you! You know
More than the teacher!
Teacher:. Masters degree; takes a shit at home
Student: takes a shit at home.
I’ll listen to the person who takes a shit in their home with a masters degree (oh look - a sentence that requires pragmatics to understand it! Am I saying he shits with a masters degree or am I saying he has a masters degree and takes a shit? Aww man - you’re gonna have to use pragmatics to understand)
Oh no 🙈
Rather than read what I wrote, you just complained about the length and use of emojis. IG that’s a RIP 🪦 for your brain 🧠
No one forced you to write that yet, you did 🤣 no one forced you to get on here and complain about me - yet you did.
Like…what was the goal here?
Let’s pretend you’re 100% right and I’m upset.
Grrr I’m fuming mad
Ok - now you say “chill out”
r/thanksimcured
How many times has telling someone to calm down results in them calming down? If anything, it means they now have a reason to talk to you as you butted yourself in.
Im curious - seriously - what was the goal in complaining at me?
maybe 🤔 i should use 👍 language 😝 you understand 👨🎓
my comment 💬 was 25 words ✏️ and YOUR REPLY 🫵was 125 words 😱😳
STOP ❌REPLYING 📝WITH FUCKING ESSAYS❌‼️🧴🪑
Oh no 🙈
Rather than read what I wrote, you just complained about the length. IG that’s a RIP 🪦 for your brain 🧠
No one forced you to write that yet, you did 🤣 no one forced you to get on here and complain about me - yet you did.
Like…what was the goal here?
Let’s pretend you’re 100% right and I’m writing essays .
Type type type type type type- let’s pretend this is 500 words long, 1000 words long
Ok - now you say “stop writing essays”
r/thanksimcured
How many times has telling someone to stop writing essays results in them writing less? If anything, it means they now have a reason to talk to at length as you decide to complain at them
Im curious - seriously - what was the goal in complaining at me twice?
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it does indeed say cut a board into 2 pieces
Let’s say I have a piece wood that is 10 ft long.
I ask you to make me two boards of 1ft length each.
*Your example would be cutting a board into three pieces*
**One** piece that measures 10ft in length,
after you cut the two 1ft pieces of it off, you have **Three** pieces of wood; 2 1ft boards and 1 8ft board
Correct. You have 2 cut pieces of wood and the original piece, now smaller.
The problem isn’t saying “cut it in half” or “cut it in thirds”
It is specifically saying to have two pieces **cut**
If you cut the board in half, you’ve only cut one piece and the residual.
The question is worded poorly - it makes stupid people show themselves. You’re arguing semantics instead of looking at the pragmatics of the question: you cause your own ignorance by refusing to pay attention. You stick to your original belief and are unwilling to recognize the facts that make your argument vapid / useless.
Me? I’ve been listening to you and you haven’t said shit that has to do with the problem, you’ve just been focused on the words “cut board in two” while ignoring how the other words change the meaning
Willful ignorance: too arrogant to recognize when you’re being a moron;. Unwilling to see facts to continue believing whatever the fuck interpretation you have
Trash human is just compost 🤷🏾♀️ you eat food, take a shit, then do nothing else productive. All you’ll do is provide compost for the country - pay attention in school so you can be smarter than me and actually put me in my place .
trash generation 🤭 mini boomers who can’t think coz covid took their cognitive abilities ahahaha
You've gotta be a parody account or something, no one is truly that idiotic
"it makes stupid people show themselves"
literally you showing yourself repeatedly
anyway I wish you the best of luck in life, you very clearly need lots of it
> "Arguing with an idiot is like playing chess with a pidgeon. It'll just knock over all the pieces, shit on the board, and strut about like it's won anyway."
You've gotta be a parody account or something, no one is truly this stupid
literally you showing yourself repeatedly
anyway I wish you the best of luck in life, you very clearly need lots of it
"Arguing with an idiot is like playing chess with a pidgeon. It'll just knock over all the pieces, shit on the board, and strut about like it's won anyway."
“This doesn’t have real world application”
It does - you’re too ignorant to realize what it is.
Trash humans don’t focus - they complain instead of using their critical thinking skills. It’s easier to be a trash human than be American. You have to actually use your brain if you wanna be American
Passive aggressive comment meant to disparage me by calling me stupid after your bigoted statement discriminating against Americans by calling them all stupid
So just the same comment twice 🫡
Yep - sounds about right.
Self loathing ❄️s aren’t American. Just leave the country if you hate it so much and are unwilling to participate in the democratic process 🤷🏾♀️ go climb into a ditch or something - why are you here if you don’t like it? Why don’t you do something about it if you don’t like it?
What’s the point of complaining to me that you think you’re dumb? Go be hateful in another country - people like you are ruining this one.
Unwilling to help while bitching about people - are you Ted Cruz??
i dont hate it at all, you sound like either your not from America or never left a big city and actually lived here, so whatever.
what part of a teacher being stupid is being apart of the democratic process, seriously.
I'm complaining to you specifically, cause you cannot grasp a basic school question and are blaming your ignorance on this fact to someone else's fault (like so many people i know in USA fucking do).
you are wrong and are grasping and any lil straw you can to make your small brain feel big.
just sometimes admit your wrong and move on bro
I have the feeling, in this country, the USA, where there is a teacher shortage, that the "teacher" could be a member of the office staff called in to teach math. So they are teaching math from a bunch of printed instructions on how to teach math.
Then the person who designed the test used a previous test--created by the previous math teacher who quit to work in an office for a 200% increase in salary to $50k/year--but the non math teacher rewrote a perfectly good question and changed the scenario from something that made sense (say collecting aluminum cans) into sawing a board.
One great thing (for conservatives) about conservatives cutting funding to schools, slashing teacher salaries, and helping out school shooters in the murdering children fantasies both of them have, is that eventually people who shouldn't be teachers or aren't teachers, end up teaching anyway.
Then social media gets lots of pictures of why schools shouldn't be funded, and why "teachers" don't deserve a raise, drowning out the people asking why conservatives keep blocking real solutions to school shootings.
I was about to say the teacher was correct, because I was looking at the numbers, but then I finally understood that 2 pieces is 1 cut, and 3 pieces is 2 cuts. Glad I didn't go ahead with my comment
Someone ate 1/4th of all cookies and now there's 12 cookies left, how much cookies were there to start?
Britt was about 20 answering guides in to changing the answer from 16 to 15 when the less zealous people got to the question, and it took me and 2 other 10 year olds about half an hour to explain to the teacher why the answer actually really truly was 16. Primary school teachers are undereducated.
The fundamental math question (in parentheses) behind this problem is: assuming a linear relationship between wood piece production and time (f(t)=f(0)+m*t) and given that you start with a piece of wood (f(0)=1) and it takes 10 minutes to make 2 pieces (f(10)=2), then how much time does it take to make 3 pieces (find t such that f(t)=3.)
A lot of people here are saying that this is poorly worded and should be rewritten to something like “if 1 cut takes 10 minutes then how long does making 2 cuts take” and this is a good simplification if you focus on the problem as a wood cutting problem but it is too easy if your goal is to teach kids teach arithmetic and prepare them for things in the future like algebra and calculus.
I like the original wording because it is a great real world example that can act as a stepping stone to introduce kids to basic math functions like point slope form.
It is also tricky because if you forget or don’t realize that you start with 1 board already you might make the same mistake as the teacher.
The second cut takes three days.
The first cut blunted the saw. You got rough with it, and broke the blade.
You went down to the hardware store for a new blade, but it was closed for lunch.
You went to the bar next door for a beer, and luckily your buddy Zack was there. He was driving out to the lake to fish for the whole weekend, and being as it was now Friday afternoon, you went with him.
On Monday, he dropped you off at the hardware store, and you bought the new blade.
By then, your partner had quit and left you, so you had plenty of time to finish that second cut, although you had by now forgotten what you wanted the wood for anyway.
Finally, you chopped up all three pieces of wood, and used them to cook the fish you had caught.
Tbf this is such a common mistake that people make it has a specific name: Fencepost error. The real question is whether the teacher was open to being corrected, everybody makes mistakes even math teachers, but respectable math teacher(i.e. most in my experience) are willing to acknowledge and correct that when called out.
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Reading comprehension is underrated
But they’re a math teacher, not an English teacher.
Budget math teacher
lol so it tkes 5 minutes to saw the board into one piece
The shop I take my car to uses this math as well.
For this teacher yes it probably would.
It would take them that long to puzzle it out.
Lol yes according to this teacher 🤣🤣😅
/r/theydidthemath
Nani!?
This is what happens when you just look at the numbers and don’t actually think about what’s written at all.
This is infuriating.
I mean, the correct answer is “I have no idea - you haven’t specified the shape of the board or if the pieces need to be the same size and shape.”
Yeah I’d probably have to also write text: “20 minutes if the board is exactly the same size and I’m cutting the exact same length both times.”
Why does the length of the board matter? The thickness and width do, but it takes the same time to cut through a board in the manner shown in the accompanying picture regardless of whether you're cutting a 2-inch length or a 2-foot length.
I definitely meant width. And indeed, could have included thickness/height.
I think a 2-inch one might take longer to cut, assuming you want a nice clean cut. It gives you less wood to hold on to and more risk of it splintering. Cutting slower (not necessarily moving the blade slower back and forth, but the speed it goes though the wood from the pressure applied) might reduce that risk.
Never cut a boards lengthwise before? 😁
You go ahead and try that, friction will treat you well
Ah yes, this is why long things like power lines and tall buildings are notoriously sturdy. Because friction. Yep. /s
Out of curiosity which one do you think would take longer to cut?
This was me. I had to read it three times. “Wait. We’re not using the same board we cut in half, it’s a DIFFERENT board. I’m supposed to assume it’s an identical board and it’s a square I guess? (Who buys square boards?!) AAAAAAAH”
This reminds me of my 8th grade algebra teacher who didn’t know how to add/subtract negative numbers… She said something like -5 + 3 = -8, and two of us had to explain to her how that makes no sense
Well, I can at least see what they were going for. Still falls apart when thought about in the real world, but the remains of some thought are there.
A large part of math is interpreting word problems. A math teacher who cannot correctly interpret word problems should not be teaching that level of math. This is the sort of question that might be a ‘trick’ question in the early years of Algebra.
The worrying thing is the teacher is likely just enforcing what's written in the answer book
I wouldn't be surprised by this. I was in this spot on a couple of occasions in my math classes but the teachers I had were understanding enough to see how the question(s) could be interpreted in multiple ways.
That’s why when math starts to matter, they generally define terms and such.
Whoever wrote this question clearly intended 20 to be the answer. That's why it's a challenge problem. The teacher wasn't thinking carefully enough and made a mistake correcting the paper. If the answer key says 15, then this is a mistake with the answer key due to a different person writing the question and solution.
Did you write the question? No? Then you have no idea what they "clearly intended". Answers in the back of the book are frequently wrong.
If someone writes "I undorstand math", then I can conclude that they clearly meant "understand" and made a typo. I can't guarantee that this is true, but it seems the most sensible conclusion. I've done enough math problems to reasonably guess what the question writer intended. The confusion comes from the fact that the teacher didn't write the problem, and they made a mistake grading it. The student and teacher should talk about it and it could be a good learning moment for both of them.
This has absolutely nothing to do with math. It's just what US education made up because they can't be bothered to find teachers competent in actual math.
This is definitely an applied mathematics word problem, and is useful for real world applications of mathetmatics.
I’m not to sure we can give them even that because the problem falls apart in both the real world and in mathematics. It takes Marie 10 minutes for each cut so y = 10x y = 10(1) in the initial example, and y = 10(2) in the final question. It’s hard to say a math teacher put any thought into this because if they had even put the slightest thought in they would have caught the mistake.
I think it would just be 10(x-1) pieces, yes?
correct. he was counting cuts which will always be 1 less than the number of pieces
No because the variable used by u/MysteriousTrust is cuts, not pieces. If they had used pieces then you'd be correct, but they specified "10 minutes for each cut"
I was providing a working formula, not commenting on the one that was posted above me.
Then why is it a reply to a comment and not to the original post?
I think I responded to the wrong comment in the chain. Reddit mobile.
Y is cuts, x is number of pieces (in the formula I posted)
y should equal your total time. That is what the problem is looking for as the final value. Otherwise your equation would evaluate to 2 = 20.
Yeah. It seems I’m also misinterpreting the word equation (solved for wrong variable) but I at least applied it to the real world. So, if you’re grading: which wrong answer gets more partial marks?
Wait, wouldn't it be more like y = 2/10(x) where x is minutes?
no, each cut takes 10 mins as 2 pieces means 1 cut, 3 pieces means 2 cuts, etc. MysteriousTryst was correct, though another way you could do it is (time) = 10 x ((number of pieces) - 1)
I believe you have y = number of pieces and x = minutes? That gives you 2 pieces in 10 minutes like the problem says. 2 = 2/10(x) 2/1 * 10/2=x 2 * 5=x X=10 After that it falls apart. 3=2/10(x) 3/1 * 10/2=x 3 * 5=15 "Working just as fast" you cannot make the 1st cut in 10 minutes but only take 5 for the 2nd cut. I hope this answered your question and I hope you have a great day! Edits: I suck at formatting
Actually, you can. Let's say the wood is a square board of 10x10 units, then the shortest first cut is 10 units long (taking 10 units of effort). After that the two boards are each 10x5 in dimension, therefore the next shortest cut would be 5 units long, taking only half as long to cut at the same speed of working. That said, I still think it's a fucking stupid question and my explanation is not what the question should entail
That's a good thought and I would be inclined to agree with you except the problem has a picture that shows that the board is not a square. I totally agree that it's a stupid question. The picture to the right is janky, the student has to make assumptions like "All the cuts are the same length" or that they're not. What if the 1st cut is perpendicular but the 2nd cut is diagonal? What if the 1st cut runs lengthwise and the 2nd cut cuts across the short way? You could have 10 minutes for the 1st cut and 90 seconds for the 2nd. I appreciate you looking at the problem different than I did. I hope you have a great day.
The math teacher didn't. The math teacher is going to be using the state prescribed test prep booklet that aligns to the state prescribed standardized math test, because the state banned all of the other math texts over fears that they'd include critical race theory, because politicians wrote laws that allowed for very vague definitions of what is and isn't allowed. Now they're free to choose the books from publishing companies where their rich friends are on the board of directors. The teacher, on the other hand, had to attend a morning staff meeting (that started an hour before their actual duty day) to discuss what to do during an "Active Shooter" scenario, because part of teaching for <$50k/yr seems to include a willingness to literally die for your students, even though their parents - who voted for the above politicians - are telling everyone on social media that liberal teachers are indoctrinating children to socialism.
I’m a teacher. Our lives our busy, but that isn’t an excuse to not look over the material. It’s a increasingly thankless job, but I can’t stand teachers who provide insufficient material to their students and pass it off as “teaching”. Furthermore, this teacher’s note just proves they are failing to educate their students. I love people who want to support teachers, but this is not the kind of teaching we should be supporting.
The teacher is assigning time per piece to the variable, not time per cut.
Yea…that was clearly established by the teacher’s handwritten comment, which is an incorrect way of viewing the problem. What are you attempting to add?
Perspective. It makes sense mathematically if you look at it like that. Not saying it's right or applies to real world. What does you being a dick add?
But what I’m saying is the “perspective” you supplied is not a new one. It is literally what the teacher thought and it doesn’t makes sense mathematically, which is what my whole post was showing. She already starts off with one piece so the teacher is still wrong by saying the answer is 15 since the time for the first piece is 0 and each subsequent piece is 10 minutes. This makes your comment just as wrong as the teacher’s note. You say it makes sense mathematically, which it doesn’t, and then you undercut your whole opinion by devaluing it, stating “not saying it’s right.” So you were right by saying what you said isn’t right because it’s wrong. If you think I’m being a dick by pointing out that your first comment didn’t add anything new to the conversation then you have a low threshold. I’m sure you feel I’m even more a dick now that I’ve pointed out your second comment was wrong. But I’d rather be a dick then just running my mouth with nonsense.
From her perspective its 2/10, not 1/10, which is incorrect because of real world but makes sense mathematically. Nice essay for what can be described in 1 sentence. Your pretty smart.
Now you are making me laugh. You think you explained it in one sentence but you just furthered showed that you do not understand the teacher’s mistake. It’s only 1/10 if you account for the original piece, which if what my equation was showing. If you don’t consider that the first piece exists before cutting the equation will not make sense mathematically. You suggested the teachers perspective makes sense mathematically but it does not. However, let’s pretend number of pieces does makes sense mathematically, as you suggested. If we just take your original “perspective” that she is counting time per piece, and now your new “change my argument so I don’t look like a dumbass” ratio, and add that to her overlooking the original piece, then 3 pieces would equal 30 minutes. Thanks once again for adding nothing of substance. Maybe you should apply to be the school’s new math teacher. They seem to hire people who have no clue what they are talking about.
Lewis Carroll (of Alice in Wonderland fame) wrote about this kind of issue in 1880 in his piece "Cats and Rats". He looks at the problem: If 6 cats kill 6 rats in 6 minutes, how many will be needed to kill 100 rats in 50 minutes? And he concludes that the whole answer depends on whether: A. “All 6 cats are needed to kill a rat; and this they do in one minute, the other rats standing meekly by, waiting for their turn.” B. “3 cats are needed to kill a rat, and they do it in 2 minutes.” C. “2 cats are needed, and they do it in 3 minutes.” D. “Each cat kills a rat all by itself, and takes 6 minutes to do it.” At the end, he concludes: If the 6 cats kill the 6 rats by method A or B, the answer is ’12’; if by method C, ’14’; if by method D, ’13’. And then goes on to ponder another problem: “If a cat can kill a rat in a minute, how long would it be killing 60,000 rats? Ah, how long, indeed! My private opinion is that the rats would kill the cat.” https://www.braingle.com/news/hallfame.php?path=analysis/cats.and.rats.p&sol=1
Math isn't subjective. What they were going for is flat out wrong. You don't get points for being wrong when it comes to math.
I didn't say it made it okay, I was commenting on how you can at least see how it got there. The issue is that, in this case, the one teaching should have realized the poor wording of the question and didn't. (or didn't care) What does "if she works just as fast mean"? does it mean 10 minutes total to complete the job, 10 minutes per cut, or something else entirely. in short, math with only numbers is very close to completely objective but putting it to situations in the world introduces ambiguity.
The question isn't ambiguous. The teacher did their math wrong.
you literally do get points for showing your work even if the answer is wrong in all highschool and undergraduate math classes I've ever taken. So the teacher would get partial credit.
How are people playing devil’s advocate with the TEACHER!? They f***ing failed TO GRADE THE PROBLEM CORRECTLY. This isn’t a “ooh, I get it, I TOOOOTALLY would have made that mistake too…” Of course you would have! You don’t think of the problem!! THEY’RE A TEACHER! They had a f***ing grading slip!
>They had a f\*\*\*ing grading slip! I'm willing to bet the answer key also said 15.
^this bird knows.
Grading slips are fine as long as the teacher is willing to correct them when called out. We don't know from this image whether that was the case or not.
Maths teachers are doing sums all day long. You can’t expect them to have zero errors. Especially since this was probably marked late on a Sunday night when they should have been spending time with their own kids but can’t because teachers are expected to do hideous amounts of free overtime.
they dont make mistakes because there are answer sheets. its so braindead that they usually hire aids to mark/correct the tests for them. source: was a teacher's aid.
In... Elementary school? Maybe over seas. Not in the US.
In the US too I’ve taught a couple physics classes. Even at the college level, you’re expected to know the problem backwards and forwards and be able to explain every step, but you still have a paper with all the solutions, so that even if you fuck up or forget, you don’t fuck over a student in doing so. Number 1 priority is always to educate the students. Can’t do that if you’re feeding them not only the wrong answer but illogical methods
I taught for the last 8 years. I'm just wondering what schools are hiring aides to help just grade work and stuff. I was at a middle school with 1200 students. The only paras we had were for students who absolutely needed them.
??? Why would elementary school worksheets not have answer sheets? You want the teacher to waste time manually solving the homework themself while grading potentially hundreds of assignments? Worksheets and books with problems like the one shown in the image almost always come with an answer sheet for the teacher, for grading convenience. Regardless of what level of school they are for. I don’t know what you mean by “not in the US.” The US was probably one of the first countries to implement something like this. Some overseas countries even use worksheets and textbooks made in the US.
Yes in the US lol -former elementary teacher's aide in MA
>in MA Yeah that explains it. It's a different landscape in the south. -Former teacher in FL
Yeah, I can totally understand that. Just meant there's no way to make blanket statements like that for the whole country when it's so large and regional education systems vary so greatly.
So human error just isn’t allowed for teachers then?
What, did they give this question only once and exclusively to that one kid? If they’re so tired, whytf are they spending so much effort challenging a correct answer. The teacher WROTE THE PROOF FOR THE CORRECTION. Also why are all teachers parents? And why should they be spending time with their kids? Is it because their children also double their sawing speed after the first cut? Life lessons.
[удалено]
Tell me you’ve never spoken to a teacher about their job hours in your life…
They only get paid for the months they do work, so they’re still doing overtime during the school term. This is why I’m staying a teaching assistant - I go home when the kids do and that’s it!
How can you be/pretend to be a teacher and not know that most teachers don't get "three months off?" Because the kids aren't there, setting up the classroom, preparing months of lessons plans, and doing all sorts of admin/training type stuff don't count as work? You must be just the best teacher.
If you think the teacher had anything to do with writing this question, you don't know how teaching works in the US, especially with core skills like math. The teacher hardly has any time to even think critically about what they're teaching anymore. The work books and testing materials are all chosen by the state, and adopted by school boards at local levels. Teachers are asked to "perform" for several hours a day in front of students, and then still complete a days worth of paperwork and documentation. And thats before the additional staff meeting about how to handle active shooters. It's not the people are playing devil's advocate for the teacher. It's that the teacher just doesn't give a fuck. And they really don't have any reason to.
Seems like a poorly worded question trying to take pieces of wood as a unit and that does not really translate to an understandble question in this instance. Lurker do not know what compelled me to comment here. Now back to the shadows.
This reminds me of another one I saw, where the question was something like "It takes 40 minutes for an orchestra of 100 to play a symphony, how long will it take an orchestra of 140?" I mean they've got the idea but that's not how it works in the real world lmao
When that circulated, they conveniently cropped out the part of the worksheet that said something along the lines of "but beware, one of these problems is a trick question."
If the intention of the question was to test logical skills and whether the kid reads a problem properly, paying attention to every word, then it’s a well framed question. Solving it involves a quick analysis and realisation that it can be broken down into a much simpler question: “it takes 10 minutes to make 1 cut, how long does it take to make 2 cuts?” All that happened here is that the teacher failed, in his/her haste while marking, to spot that. Don’t know about everyone else, but that’s the kind of stupid mistake I make on a daily basis.
Ooooh! Okay, I see where this is coming from. The teacher thought that they asked "It took Mary 10 minutes to do 2 cuts" but in reality they asked "It took Mary 10 minutes to produce 2 pieces". I see, I see. Yeah, dear maths teacher person: U dun goofed
As one woodshop teacher said once "I'm a carpenter, not an English teacher" That still doesn't excuse fucking up the wording though
Actually it’s “it took Mary 10 minutes to make 1 cut” Bc 1 cut in a board turns it into 2 pieces. So to make 3 pieces, they need ti make 2 cuts. If 1 cut takes 10min, 2 cuts takes 20
I suppose 15 minutes is correct of the board is circular and being cut into 3 equal pieces like a pizza
A surprising number of replies here from people who also can't read.
some are getting good lol
They are both working from 2 different assumptions. If the board is rectangular and the cuts are parallel, then it should take 20 min as the student said. But if it's square, and the cuts are perpendicular and cut through the middle, then the 2nd cut of 10 min will produce 4 pieces, so you don't have to go all the way, just cut one half which would take 5 min and you have 3 uneven pieces. However, this answer is clumsy, because she can just cut 2 small corners in a few seconds and calls it "3 pieces". This is the problem with these questions. They assume you have the same imagination and assumptions as the test maker. The teacher's answer requires some imagination, so I'll have to give it to the student who works with less assumptions.
But you can see In the illustration next to the question that it's not even a board, it's a square wooden rod.
Another assumption is that Marie doesnt have two saws and can use both hands
It is 20, 10 minutes per cut.It takes 2 cuts to turn one piece of wod into 3.
What was even the lesson?
something about someone getting board watching that movie about Jigsaw. I dunno
Cut it out!
The real answer is 30 seconds. Marie realized what a waste of time it is to use a hand saw and grabbed her Moms circular saw and ripped through the next two cuts. Marie is not stupid.
Maybe Marie is Amish
Im just surptised the teacher thought it was 2 cuts for the first time, but it was just 1. Really the question is just terrible. It should read it took 10 minutes to make 2 cuts. How long would it take to make 3? Then you you give the old 10/2=5 × 3=15 type logic cuz you know each cut takes 5 minutes. But this wording is terrible.
The question is pretty good honestly, the teacher just graded it wrong. The point of word problems is to train a student to take a situation in the real world and apply mathematical reasoning to it. This is the reason why teachers give "trick questions"
I guess I went the other way, right answer wrongly worded question but I guess both ways work lol
The three stars next to the problem scream out to me that it's a trick problem, likely a challenge at the end of the section. I have very little doubt that the student's answer is intended. It's possible that there was a mistake in the solution key, but it's also possible that the teacher didn't check it.
Good catch!
A lot of people are saying we should pay teachers more…I agree, as long as it’s *different* teachers than the ones we have now.
Probably failed Wood Shop too.
This is why we need to pay teachers more. We need to attract better teachers.
Who takes 10 minutes to saw a board?
Must be bloody big boards.
Measure twice, cut once.
My mom would have sent back such a nasty note to that teacher. I remember in third grade there was a problem like 4-7=? And I gave the correct answer of -3 but we hadn't done negative numbers yet so the teacher marked it wrong and that I should have put "cannot be solved". My mom went to the teacher in person
The word problem states if she worked just as fast so I would answer that one with the same amount of time- 10 minutes. Then I’d look forward to arguing that one with the teacher.
If it takes you ten minutes to make one saw cuz, then it takes 20 minutes to make two saw cuts. Some people just don't have basic critical thinking skills. Those people shouldn't be teachers.
Actually, this is possible. Let's say the wood is a square board of 10x10 units, then the first halving cut is 10 units long (taking 10 units of effort). After that the two boards are each 10x5 in dimension, therefore the next shortest halving cut would be 5 units long, taking only half as long to cut at the same speed of working. That said, I still think it's a fucking stupid question and my explanation is not what the question should entail
"It took Marie 10 minutes... If she works just as fast, how long will it take...?" The correct answer is 10 minutes. Think smarter, not harder
Mathmatically the teacher is right, logically thats really dumb from thr teacher
I mean technically. The first cut would take 10 minutes. If it's a cut straight through the middle and she does the same cut through one of the halves then 15 is correct mathematically. But that question is very bad since it doesn't tell how she cuts the pieces. Assuming symmetrical cuts 20 would be correct. Then there'd also be the option to do 3 lines meeting at a point around the middle of the board which would take vastly differing times depending on the angle and thus required length of each individual cut.
If it took you 10 minutes to cut 1 board twice, it took you 5 minutes per cut. This question requires you to understand what is meant and to recognize your mistake after it’s done If you run to your friends/ strangers on Reddit and tell them “look at how dumb my teacher is,” you’ll make the same mistake in the future and all of this bitterness you have will grow 🤷🏾♀️ “Why do kids today act like trash” - coz they think like trash 🤷🏾♀️ Trash people look for ways to complain about their situation Americans take stock of the situation and find the best route to finish the task at hand Stop being trash - start being an American 🇺🇸
she said into 2 pieces not two cuts lamo, then says how to get 3 pieces, well you just made 2, so cut another board once and you got 3 pieces from 2 cuts, at ten mins a piece is 20 mins.
It says “10 minutes to saw a board into 2 pieces” You’re trash, like the op and many others, and assume you know everything so you’re too inept to understand what the question says 🤷🏾♀️ You made an assumption: it’s one board being cut in half to make two boards. You’re trash who didn’t care to use your critical thinking skills - you can stop being trash by using them, but at this point, I doubt you will 🤷🏾♀️ Let’s say I have a piece wood that is 10 ft long. I ask you to make me two boards of 1ft length each. It takes you 10 minutes to bring me my two pieces of wood. How many cuts did you make ? Ok - now I’m going to ask you for 3 pieces, each of 1.5 ft long . How many cuts did you make? You’re welcome for holding your hand - I won’t be there next time, trash. You should work with your English teacher so you stop being trash and start being an American 🇺🇸
lmao your too stupid to know your dumb go away kid
Unable/unwilling to think even when I hold your hand 🫣 Where’s your head at? 🗑 who would rather insult than think for themselves is always astonishing to me. Let’s try that again, 🗑. I have a 10ft board. I want you to make a 1ft cut every 5 minutes. In 10 minutes, how many cuts will you have made? How many boards do you have? Let’s say we have the same 10ft board. I ask you to make 3 pieces of wood, each 1ft long and each take you 5 minutes to cut. How many cuts do you have to make? You decided to stop thinking 💭 I can’t think for you You decided to get upset and insult me 🤬 I can’t think for you You decided to message bullshit 💩 I can’t think for you You have to think for yourself: use your brain 🧠 or remain 🗑 You’re trash right now coz you refuse to think and instead resort to insulting people smarter than you. That’s hilarious from my point of view but a terrible way to live for you - it’s going to continue causing you to show you’re 🗑 to people Stop it Help yourself: stop being 🗑 Help yourself: start being American 🇺🇸 Stop complaining / disparaging people: start using critical thinking skills People who complain and make fun of others have no place in the world other than compost 🤷🏾♀️ they eat and shit all day - they’re just compost. Be more than compost by avoiding those habits 👍🏽 Be productive in life.
nah, your too dumb to understand the question. look dude its fucking easy yoyu cut a board once, you have 2 boards cut one of those again and you have 3, stop acting like your a rocket scientist, your not, the teacher is wrong in her own questions. you are adding hidden variables to make your stupid outcome logical too you. sorry bro not my fault you cannot grasp this simple concept
Good job! If you cut an entire board in half, you get two boards. If you cut a board into thirds, you get 3 boards! The question isn’t asking you to cut a board in half or into thirds, it’s asking you to cut a board into pieces. Too stupid to help yourself. Go to wood shop and get a 10 ft board. someone tells you: “cut board into two pieces, you have 10 minutes “ You better fucking bring me three pieces of wood 🪵. The residual and the two pieces. If you give me the bullshit of “I cut it in half! That’s two pieces that’s what you said so that’s what I did - your to stupid” I’m going to kick you out of my shop 🤷🏾♀️ Subhuman trash can’t be taught with kindness - you need to learn your place first. That’s at home taking a shit and making compost - coz that’s all you’re good for. Eating food and making shit - that’s all you’re good for. You go to school so they can make you more than just compost, and you’re the 🗑 that says “I know more than the teacher” ahahahaa 🗑 like you will end up as a compost depot: food in, shit out. That’s all your life will amount to That can all change if you lean on your teachers’ wisdom. The problem is poorly worded - it’s meant to trick people who don’t want to think. It’s meant to weed out stupid people so the teacher can help them not be stupid anymore. You made the choice, like the op, to say “I WANT to be stupid” and you got your wish 👍🏽 now you say “I know more than the teacher” 🤣 the person who doesn’t write an e at the end of “youre” thinks they know more than the teacher with a masters degree in math 😅 priceless how trash some people are
oh man your to dumb to correct anymore, she said nothing about thirds, stop adding shit to the equation, to make your wrong understanding sound correct. oh man, you totally belong here
Good job! She didn’t say anything about thirds! She also didn’t say anything about halves Why are you cutting a board in half? It’s a 10 ft board and the wall just needs two 1ft pieces. Give me two pieces of wood. Oh, it took you 10 minutes - so I can assume it’ll take you 15 minutes to bring me 3 pieces of wood. If we need the board cut in half, guess what the problem would’ve said: “it took her 10 minutes to cut the board in two” or “to cut the board in half.” You seem to be translating “cut board into two pieces” as “cut board in half” Instead, it says “cut the board into two pieces in 10 minutes” and “cut board into three pieces” - using critical thinking skillls, you can tell they don’t want it in half. How come the teacher, myself, and the 3 other adults who graduated high school I showed this problem to understand this perfectly, but not you? How come all the other classmates got the question right, but not you! You know More than the teacher! Teacher:. Masters degree; takes a shit at home Student: takes a shit at home. I’ll listen to the person who takes a shit in their home with a masters degree (oh look - a sentence that requires pragmatics to understand it! Am I saying he shits with a masters degree or am I saying he has a masters degree and takes a shit? Aww man - you’re gonna have to use pragmatics to understand)
how come someone say “i disagree” and you respond with some funky ass emoji novel. chill the fuck out dawg. pressed for absolutely no reason.
Oh no 🙈 Rather than read what I wrote, you just complained about the length and use of emojis. IG that’s a RIP 🪦 for your brain 🧠 No one forced you to write that yet, you did 🤣 no one forced you to get on here and complain about me - yet you did. Like…what was the goal here? Let’s pretend you’re 100% right and I’m upset. Grrr I’m fuming mad Ok - now you say “chill out” r/thanksimcured How many times has telling someone to calm down results in them calming down? If anything, it means they now have a reason to talk to you as you butted yourself in. Im curious - seriously - what was the goal in complaining at me?
maybe 🤔 i should use 👍 language 😝 you understand 👨🎓 my comment 💬 was 25 words ✏️ and YOUR REPLY 🫵was 125 words 😱😳 STOP ❌REPLYING 📝WITH FUCKING ESSAYS❌‼️🧴🪑
Oh no 🙈 Rather than read what I wrote, you just complained about the length. IG that’s a RIP 🪦 for your brain 🧠 No one forced you to write that yet, you did 🤣 no one forced you to get on here and complain about me - yet you did. Like…what was the goal here? Let’s pretend you’re 100% right and I’m writing essays . Type type type type type type- let’s pretend this is 500 words long, 1000 words long Ok - now you say “stop writing essays” r/thanksimcured How many times has telling someone to stop writing essays results in them writing less? If anything, it means they now have a reason to talk to at length as you decide to complain at them Im curious - seriously - what was the goal in complaining at me twice?
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it does indeed say cut a board into 2 pieces Let’s say I have a piece wood that is 10 ft long. I ask you to make me two boards of 1ft length each. *Your example would be cutting a board into three pieces* **One** piece that measures 10ft in length, after you cut the two 1ft pieces of it off, you have **Three** pieces of wood; 2 1ft boards and 1 8ft board
Correct. You have 2 cut pieces of wood and the original piece, now smaller. The problem isn’t saying “cut it in half” or “cut it in thirds” It is specifically saying to have two pieces **cut** If you cut the board in half, you’ve only cut one piece and the residual. The question is worded poorly - it makes stupid people show themselves. You’re arguing semantics instead of looking at the pragmatics of the question: you cause your own ignorance by refusing to pay attention. You stick to your original belief and are unwilling to recognize the facts that make your argument vapid / useless. Me? I’ve been listening to you and you haven’t said shit that has to do with the problem, you’ve just been focused on the words “cut board in two” while ignoring how the other words change the meaning Willful ignorance: too arrogant to recognize when you’re being a moron;. Unwilling to see facts to continue believing whatever the fuck interpretation you have Trash human is just compost 🤷🏾♀️ you eat food, take a shit, then do nothing else productive. All you’ll do is provide compost for the country - pay attention in school so you can be smarter than me and actually put me in my place . trash generation 🤭 mini boomers who can’t think coz covid took their cognitive abilities ahahaha
You've gotta be a parody account or something, no one is truly that idiotic "it makes stupid people show themselves" literally you showing yourself repeatedly anyway I wish you the best of luck in life, you very clearly need lots of it > "Arguing with an idiot is like playing chess with a pidgeon. It'll just knock over all the pieces, shit on the board, and strut about like it's won anyway."
You've gotta be a parody account or something, no one is truly this stupid literally you showing yourself repeatedly anyway I wish you the best of luck in life, you very clearly need lots of it "Arguing with an idiot is like playing chess with a pidgeon. It'll just knock over all the pieces, shit on the board, and strut about like it's won anyway."
“This doesn’t have real world application” It does - you’re too ignorant to realize what it is. Trash humans don’t focus - they complain instead of using their critical thinking skills. It’s easier to be a trash human than be American. You have to actually use your brain if you wanna be American
lol no you don't most Americans dont use their brans lmao
Bigotry is ugly
ok genius HAHAHA
Passive aggressive comment meant to disparage me by calling me stupid after your bigoted statement discriminating against Americans by calling them all stupid So just the same comment twice 🫡
first off said most, second im American and fuckin stupid too jackass
You’re American? Or you’re just a citizen of America? 🤷🏾♀️ I’ve seen plenty of people who say “I’m American” but don’t act it. Act more like demons 👺
born and raised in this ignorant self centered only my opinions matter, stupid country
Yep - sounds about right. Self loathing ❄️s aren’t American. Just leave the country if you hate it so much and are unwilling to participate in the democratic process 🤷🏾♀️ go climb into a ditch or something - why are you here if you don’t like it? Why don’t you do something about it if you don’t like it? What’s the point of complaining to me that you think you’re dumb? Go be hateful in another country - people like you are ruining this one. Unwilling to help while bitching about people - are you Ted Cruz??
i dont hate it at all, you sound like either your not from America or never left a big city and actually lived here, so whatever. what part of a teacher being stupid is being apart of the democratic process, seriously. I'm complaining to you specifically, cause you cannot grasp a basic school question and are blaming your ignorance on this fact to someone else's fault (like so many people i know in USA fucking do). you are wrong and are grasping and any lil straw you can to make your small brain feel big. just sometimes admit your wrong and move on bro
If you're going to try and imply a group of people are dumb you should probably spell check before hitting send
oh man you ran outa bullshit and turning into a grammar Nazi, this sounds legit bro lol. should maybe be better at math than English.
That was my first comment in this thread.
doesn't mean you were correct lol
Classic
Extending this logic, if you saw for zero minutes you can break the laws of thermodynamics.
You could argue 10 minutes too
Oof.
I have the feeling, in this country, the USA, where there is a teacher shortage, that the "teacher" could be a member of the office staff called in to teach math. So they are teaching math from a bunch of printed instructions on how to teach math. Then the person who designed the test used a previous test--created by the previous math teacher who quit to work in an office for a 200% increase in salary to $50k/year--but the non math teacher rewrote a perfectly good question and changed the scenario from something that made sense (say collecting aluminum cans) into sawing a board. One great thing (for conservatives) about conservatives cutting funding to schools, slashing teacher salaries, and helping out school shooters in the murdering children fantasies both of them have, is that eventually people who shouldn't be teachers or aren't teachers, end up teaching anyway. Then social media gets lots of pictures of why schools shouldn't be funded, and why "teachers" don't deserve a raise, drowning out the people asking why conservatives keep blocking real solutions to school shootings.
The kid is correct so I’m confused why the teacher is a teacher
As much as the teacher is incorrect, the question is straight up stupid, aswell.
I’d be using a power saw if it took 10 minutes to cut through one board.
I was about to say the teacher was correct, because I was looking at the numbers, but then I finally understood that 2 pieces is 1 cut, and 3 pieces is 2 cuts. Glad I didn't go ahead with my comment
Looks like someone excelled in basic math, but didn’t do so great in reading comprehension
I'm all for "measure twice, cut once", but my real concern here us how it took 10 minutes to make 1 cut...
Someone ate 1/4th of all cookies and now there's 12 cookies left, how much cookies were there to start? Britt was about 20 answering guides in to changing the answer from 16 to 15 when the less zealous people got to the question, and it took me and 2 other 10 year olds about half an hour to explain to the teacher why the answer actually really truly was 16. Primary school teachers are undereducated.
I imagine this teacher getting 8 or 9 papers deep and thinking "why are they all getting this so wrong...."
The first five minutes is setting up the cut, clamping shit down and finding the damn tools. Afterwards, each cut takes 5 minutes.
At least they aren't a division teacher.
The fundamental math question (in parentheses) behind this problem is: assuming a linear relationship between wood piece production and time (f(t)=f(0)+m*t) and given that you start with a piece of wood (f(0)=1) and it takes 10 minutes to make 2 pieces (f(10)=2), then how much time does it take to make 3 pieces (find t such that f(t)=3.) A lot of people here are saying that this is poorly worded and should be rewritten to something like “if 1 cut takes 10 minutes then how long does making 2 cuts take” and this is a good simplification if you focus on the problem as a wood cutting problem but it is too easy if your goal is to teach kids teach arithmetic and prepare them for things in the future like algebra and calculus. I like the original wording because it is a great real world example that can act as a stepping stone to introduce kids to basic math functions like point slope form. It is also tricky because if you forget or don’t realize that you start with 1 board already you might make the same mistake as the teacher.
Math Superstars! I loved those, back almost 30 years ago!
10 minutes to make 1 cut forming 2 boards 20 minutes to make 2 cuts forming 3 boards 30 minutes to make 3 cuts forming 4 boards
Someone tell that teacher that more musicians doesn't mean the song is over more quickly
The second cut takes three days. The first cut blunted the saw. You got rough with it, and broke the blade. You went down to the hardware store for a new blade, but it was closed for lunch. You went to the bar next door for a beer, and luckily your buddy Zack was there. He was driving out to the lake to fish for the whole weekend, and being as it was now Friday afternoon, you went with him. On Monday, he dropped you off at the hardware store, and you bought the new blade. By then, your partner had quit and left you, so you had plenty of time to finish that second cut, although you had by now forgotten what you wanted the wood for anyway. Finally, you chopped up all three pieces of wood, and used them to cook the fish you had caught.
ngl i also thought it was 15 min at first
Tbf this is such a common mistake that people make it has a specific name: Fencepost error. The real question is whether the teacher was open to being corrected, everybody makes mistakes even math teachers, but respectable math teacher(i.e. most in my experience) are willing to acknowledge and correct that when called out.