World Maths Day - 6th March 2013

Elijay Wed 06-Mar-13 07:47:53

How good is your maths? Mine isn't too bad.

While shopping recently I was much quicker than the assistant while calculating 15% off £16.00. 10% =£1.60, 5% = 80p, add both together = £2.40.

I've always calculated percentages with 10% as the starting point. If I needed to work out 71/2% I'd work out 5% then halve that then add the two together.

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HUNTERF Wed 06-Mar-13 08:48:08

Hi Elijay

I would say as far as addition, subtraction, multiplication, percentages and division is concerned I am good.
A little while ago I was asked about a mathematical formula I had not used since school.
The child left it with me for about 30 minutes and I worked it out.
I left school 45 years ago so I do not think that is bad.
My mother in law who was the headmistress of the school I went to thought I was better than her in this respect. She mainly taught foreign languages where as I was more on the business studies side so I suppose I was closer to maths.

Frank

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annodomini Wed 06-Mar-13 09:01:51

I used to find I picked up new ideas in maths quite quickly but then got bored because I much preferred arts subjects. I wish I'd had a teacher wo inspired me, but our maths teacher was much more intent on telling us about his wartime career in the RAF. Maths does seem more interesting nowadays.

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HUNTERF Wed 06-Mar-13 09:42:44

Hi annodomini

We had a teacher who was supposed to have won the war on his own.
Oddly enough we had a maths teacher and somehow somebody found out he was in the RAF during the war.
He said it was a time he wanted to forget.
Another one said he worked on radar and he hardly ever put a uniform on.

Frank

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petra Wed 06-Mar-13 19:15:19

Even now (i am 66) when ever someone mentions maths i go back to the day ( last year of infants) when a teacher hit me round the head so hard my glasses fell off.
My Mother was told about this and marched into the classroom and hit him.
From that day on Maths went over my head.
And the teacher: two years later he went to prison for assault on a child.
On a lighter note, i'm just grateful that my father was at sea at the time because it would have been him going to prison for murder.

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Gally Wed 06-Mar-13 20:09:30

I loathed maths at school. I'm ok on adding, multiplying, subtracting and percentages but trying to work out how to do averages (*Jo8*'s thread My son...) is driving me round the bend confused Perhaps it's because I have just woken up and the brain hasn't engaged yet wink