I weep for our future-math problem

[depechemodefan]

Kid is maybe 10 or 11. Heck, maybe 14 and his voice hasn't broken yet. But anyway, he wants help with his math problem.

kid: 2000mm = how many meters?

I asked if there is a conversion chart in his book, and there's for cm and km. I tried to explain without giving the answer, but I though this was so sad.

[fireheart]

kid: 2000mm = how many meters?

OK breaking it down:

10mm -> 1cm. 2000mm=200cm
100cm ->1m 200cm=2m
1000m -> 1km 2m=.0002km

That's rough for a 10:30pm at night...

[Lingering Grin]

A lot of kids are learning the metric system by doing they actually multiplication problems to solve for conversions, rather than just being shown the short cut


Kilo
Hecto
Deca
Meter
Deci
Centi
Milli


Just move the decimal point left or right for every spot you move on the chart, then fill in or subtract zeroes as needed.

Easy. Done.


Unfortunately, this isn't being taught as often anymore...which is stupid, because it's how EVERYONE ELSE does them

[Nurian]

Honestly, I wouldn't have known. I'm not good at keeping at numbers or conversions thereof.

[Gerrinson]

Honestly, I wouldn't have known. I'm not good at keeping at numbers or conversions thereof.

There was no conversion. The 'm' in 2000m stands for meters. Thus 2000m is 2000 meters.

The kid didn't that 'm' is the abbreviation for meter.

[Ironclad Alibi]

There was no conversion. The 'm' in 2000m stands for meters. Thus 2000m is 2000 meters.

The kid didn't that 'm' is the abbreviation for meter.

But the original problem was to convert 2000mm to meters. The mm = millimeters.

[depechemodefan]

Or maybe the textbook had nowhere that showed that milli- =.001. But that is the only reason I could see that he didn't understand. I know some math, once you learn it, is like a revelation.

But I think the book must have shown what "milli" meant, but since he had to figure it out, he didn't want to hurt his brain.

[sms001]

Unfortunately, this isn't being taught as often anymore...which is stupid, because it's how EVERYONE ELSE does them

??

The whole POINT (no pun intended) to the metric system is that everything is in decimal, that handy (ok, pun intended there) system we already COUNT IN! Why would they move away from teaching it that way?

Heck, with the op problem even moving the decimal one place for word is cumbersome - in my head it's "I have 2000 thousandths (milli-) of something, I have 2 of them."

[Mister]

The problem with being at hand to be asked is that people (even kids) tend to default to asking for the answer instead of thinking for themselves. Perhaps that's why the smart kids generally lack social skills and the social kids generally lack intelligence, but that's beside the point.
You did well at trying to have the kid answer his own question; there definitely IS a picture in his textbook like:

..
Kilo
Hecto
Deca
Meter
Deci
Centi
Milli

And it probably has arrows going from word to word saying "Times 10" and "Divide by 10".
I don't know where you're from, but I’m glad kids are learning the decimal system there. I truly hope the decimal system will one day replace the imperial system (inches and miles). Just look both of them up in Wiki and you'll know what inspired Harry Potter's funny monetary system.
(OK, so it is a pet peeve)

[Soulstealer]

I don't know where you're from, but I’m glad kids are learning the decimal system there. I truly hope the decimal system will one day replace the imperial system (inches and miles)

The Dewey decimal system is getting into measrments?
I believe you mean the metric system.

[tropicsgoddess]

Damn....I think I need to hide now... (My math skills suck)

[Ironclad Alibi]

I don't know where you're from, but I’m glad kids are learning the decimal system there. I truly hope the decimal system will one day replace the imperial system (inches and miles).

The Dewey decimal system is getting into measrments?
I believe you mean the metric system.

A decimal system is a number system based on ten.

The Dewey Decimal system is a library classification system with ten main classes.

The metric system is a system of measurement based on the meter, which is also a decimal system.

However, in the context of Mister's post, he does obviously means the metric system.