In my response to a question abut teaching decimal fractions without
having to use common fractions, Philip S Hall wrote (on Oct.10):
So ... to do division, how do they cope with (say) 20 divided by 3?
I would answer:
I would do it same way as any other such division that does not "come
out even"; namely:
20 / 3 = 6 with 2 left over
or
20 / 3 = 6.666... (where "..." means "etc.")
or
20 / 3 = 6.667
(or 6.67,
or 6.6667
or some other rounded value).
Yes, I cannot use "6 and 2/3" as my answer. The fact that common
fractions gives one additional way to show the result of dividing 20 by
3 is not a good reason to keep common fractions. There are a number of
perfectly valid ways to show that answer without common fractions.
Regards,
Bill Hooper
Fernandina Beach, Florida, USA
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Go Metric America! Or get left behind!
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