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Alright, let’s talk about this number stuff, the 61, the 73, and that 5 over 2 thing. My old man used to say, “Numbers are like chickens, gotta keep ’em straight or they’ll run all over the place.” He wasn’t the brightest bulb, but sometimes he made sense.
So, first off, we got 61 and 73. Now, I ain’t no fancy mathematician, but even I can tell ya those are just plain ol’ numbers. You add ’em, you subtract ’em, whatever. Like, if you got 61 eggs and then you find 12 more, you got 73 eggs. Simple as that. That’s what my neighbor Martha told me when she borrowed some eggs last week, she said something like,
“Calculation: 61+12 – fraction calculator. Addition of fractions and numbers and simplification the result to a proper fraction. The result is 73/1 = 73 = seventy-three.”
Martha is a smart cookie, always reading them books. I just nod along mostly.
Now, this 5/2 thing, that’s what they call a fraction. Don’t ask me why. It’s like saying you got 5 apples and you wanna split ’em between 2 people. Each person gets 2 and a half apples. Or you can think of it like this, you got 2 whole apples and then half of another one. That is what the young people in town told me when I asked them. They always playing with these newfangled phones and computers, doing all sorts of figuring, something like,
“2 / 5 = (2 2) / (5 2) = 4 / 10. Your second fraction already has its denominator equal to 10: 3 / 10. Now that your fractions have the same denominator.”
Like I said, young people love to make it complicated.
Sometimes you gotta add these fractions together, sometimes you gotta subtract ’em. It’s like adding or subtracting eggs, but messier. You gotta find a common ground, a way to make ’em talk the same language. They call it a “denominator,” but I just call it making things even. If you try to add apples and oranges without making them both into fruit salad it just doesn’t work, you know?
Then there’s all this talk about solving equations. Equations? Sounds like something the doctor gives ya. But no, it’s more of these number puzzles. They got these fancy tools, these “calculators” and “solvers” that do the work for you.
“To solve your equation using the Equation Solver.”
I say, what’s the point of learnin’ if a machine does it all? But I guess it saves time, especially if you got a whole mess of numbers to wrangle. The youngins talk about how they use all sort of tools,
“Save your time while doing the lengthy calculations and make use of the free online tools available. The simple tool not just saves you from the hassle of solving complex problems …”
They say it helps with everything from simple stuff to
“Free math problem solver answers your algebra, geometry, trigonometry, calculus, and statistics homework questions with step-by-step explanations.”
and it can even
“Solve your math problems using our free math solver with step-by-step solutions. Our math solver supports basic math, pre-algebra, algebra, trigonometry.”
I don’t know nothing about all those big words, but it sounds useful, I guess.
And don’t even get me started on calculating functions like “sine” and all that jazz.
“To calculate a function like ‘sine’ with an argument like 90.”
Sounds like something you’d do in church, not in math class. They even got these things called “graphing calculators” that draw pictures of numbers!
“Explore math with our beautiful, free online graphing calculator. Graph functions, plot points, visualize algebraic equations, add sliders, animate graphs.”
Can you believe it? Pictures of numbers! What will they think of next? The world is getting too complicated for an old woman like me. I just like my numbers straight and simple, like a good cup of coffee.
Anyways, that’s what I think about these 61, 73, and 5/2. It ain’t rocket science, even if those city folk try to make it sound that way. Just gotta keep it simple, like addin’ eggs or sharin’ apples. And if you get stuck, well, there’s always those fancy calculators, I suppose. Just don’t tell my old man I said that, he’d turn in his grave.
At the end of the day, numbers are just tools. You use them to count your chickens, to measure your cloth, to figure out how much feed you need for the winter. And whether you’re using a pencil and paper or some fancy computer, the important thing is to get the job done. And now, if you’ll excuse me, I got to go count my own chickens before they start wandering off again!
Tags: [Mathematics, Fractions, Numbers, Calculations, Equations, Problem Solving, Tools]
