Try finding the average height of the students in your class using feet and
inches, then using metric units.
Next try them with a problem that a friend and I had a few years ago -what
should the approximate diameter of a sphere be if it is to accommodate 2000
tons of water. (They may assume
Try the fish tank problem. You have a fish tank 20 in x 10 in x 10 in (easy
numbers to start with, but then it gets complicated).
How many fish can it hold on the basis of 5 fish to a gallon? (Different
answers for UK and US gallons).
How much would the tank weigh? (Ignore the weight of the
I had a similar problem when I wanted to set up an above ground swimming pool in my yard. The pool was measured in feet, the water was measured in gallons, and the sand I needed for the walls of the pool was measured in pounds. IT was quite convoluted math.I finally gave up and did the
A few years ago, I was writing a detailed article for the Oughtred Society Journal on how to use proportion to solve slide rule problems. The Europeans used this technique but it was almost never taught in the US.After showing how to solve contrived problems, I tried several common and more
I’ve told this story before, but for those new on the list:
Many years ago the company for which I work bought some ticket printers from
IER, a French company. The tickets are thermally sensitive (no ink), and the
thermal print head was a long-term consumable. The specifications said it
One of the things that should be a worry to Americans (and indeed even to us in
the UK, even though we are far more metricated than the US) is the fact that,
unlike as little as 20 years ago, what were once called third world nations are
catching up – fast. Ecommerce, the internet, and new
-0700
http://www.mail-archive.com/search?l=usma@colostate.eduq=date:20131013
I’ve told this story before, but for those new on the list:
Many years ago the company for which I work bought some ticket printers from
IER, a French company. The tickets are thermally sensitive (no ink
