I'm so glad I can do sums without a calculator

[CerberusIV]

I recently completed a degree in earth sciences (geology related subjects mostly) with the Open University. No calculators allowed although all that the courses required was arithmetic, basic algebra and complex numbers.

Yes, I remember using a slide rule - and largely giving up on it because it was quicker to do work it out in my head.

I haven't seen a slide rule in years but one odd item I discovered tucked away in a corner of the office when I started my present job looks like a slide rule but is specifically for calculating volumes of concrete. By adjusting it for the thickness, length and width, it gives the volume of concrete required. One of my predecessors must have been a civil engineer.

[rah]

Originally posted by Azazel

She is not in a special school.

what do you mean by that?

Not in a private school. Just a regular American Public school. Silly.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Azazel
France has funded (and founded ) the University of Nice, who has the single webpage that will help me pass the Calc 2 Course aka Hell.

You whuz, that's the easy stuff.

[Az]

Thank goodness I don't have to go further ( Well, ODE, and PDE, but I am doing them this simester as well, and they're ok. )

[Urban Ranger]

What kind of engineer are you?

[Az]

No kind of engineer. I am a chemist in training.

[Solver]

Interesting. Here, calculators are banned till high schools (where, obviously, many calculations DO require those), so everyone is required to memorize the multiplication tables.

I'm not sure, but I think I learnt them myself when I was 6 or 7 - took me long, provided that I could do many other things by then. Oh, and learning how to divide on paper was a pain for me... even more so for my father to teach.

[Kuciwalker]

I break it down slightly differently from how Cerberus does.

In his example, 16*27, I would do a sort of long mulitplication in my head.

16*20 = 160*2 = 320
add 7*10 = 70 and 7*6 = 42
432

[Provost Harrison]

I had this today when someone was using a calculator to work out some simple averages but before they were getting the numbers into the calculator I had already reeled off the answer...I think this divide occurs at a younger age than I am at fortunately yet I know the power of a calculator for trickier mathematics...the best of both worlds...

[raghar]

So try this 4/3*(thirdSQRT(513/11*523/19*11/57))*log(4436634>>1)
Without calculator of course and at least on 19 decimals, please.

[Urban Ranger]

What are you, some kind of masochist?

[ravagon]

Re: I'm so glad I can do sums without a calculator

Originally posted by Alexander's Horse
I was trying the explain some shortcuts to one of my kids when I was helping him with his homework and he just burst into tears - it wasn't the way he was being taught. He didn't seem to have a concrete idea about numbers in his head the way I do, even when I said stuff like "if you have 6 apples and take away 2, what do you have left?". I had to draw the damn apples!

I think you may have better luck if you lose the apples. Kids don't 'get' apples. Try jellybeans instead and use props.

[Urban Ranger]

Or ice cream cones

[Sikander]

I'm also good at doing arithmatic in my head. I think wargames are a large part of the reason. Anyone who has gone through one combat phase in DNO should have a firm handle on addition and division for instance.

A friend of mine ran a RP game which was extremely complex. He's got a PhD in Physical Chemistry, and had more math by the time he was a freshman in high school than I have ever had. Anyway, the enormous complexity of his game meant that he needed to constantly use his calulator to figure out things for the game. It bugged him that I could always get the answer faster in my head than he could on the calculator.

[Guest]

Im very fast at arithmetic also.
Im in math, but as somebody mentionned, that has almost no bearing.
I know ppl with math degrees who take out calculators to add up 2 digit numbers.
I can do quick exact artihmetic (multiplying 2 digits numbers very quickly and such) but maybe from my science background, I can do also rather precise approximations for more complicated stuff, you know converting twice , then multiplying by price and dividing by number of people to estimate what I owe to someone or such. As such, I think this second skill is more useful in day to day life than exact low-level arithmetic, because you can know If something is being charged too much or something like that.