Monday, May 9, 2011

Math isn't fun: a proof

When Sudoku first started getting popular in the U.S., it intimidated me. All those numbers, and you were supposed to figure something out. Sounded a lot like math. Ugh.

But as it turned out, it was more of a logic game, and as a journalist and enjoyer of sound arguments, that was fun. Yay.

I learned today, however, of a new game popular in at least one British newspaper. It looks like this:

30 SECOND CHALLENGE NUMBER TRAIL

Start on the left with the numbers given and follow the instructions as you go along. You have 30 seconds to complete each row.

Beginners

60

÷ 10

x 8

+ 2

½ of it

- 7

÷ 3

x 9

+ 2

÷ 7

Answer

Intermediate

100

1/10

of it

x 6

- 6

5/9

of it

½ of it

x 5

+ 6

2/9

of it

x 3

Answer

Advanced

50

3/10

of it

400%

of it

x 2

- 12

1/9

of it

Times by itself

25%

of it

x 1 ½

5/6

of it

Answer

Here's a fun game: spot the obvious misspelling!

OK, do I really even need to say this? This "puzzle" is a math problem made "difficult" by including multiple steps. I did this same stuff in middle school, but it had a different name: Homework. NOT FUN.

QED.

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