Number Word Problems
Allen Klinger, © 12/17/2002
Rate times time equal distance, division of space or
goods, and other issues, many involving commerce, express things about
numeric
amounts. That involves using language, or more specifically, words, to express quantity. Written records - use and preservation of language through a writing system - are at the heart of this issue. They contrast with other means
to record quantity such as the knots on strings method of the Inca. Even
the fundamental nature of a culture is part of this subject.
Three Word Problems
- "What's smaller than an flea's mouth?" [1]
- "Natural Childbirth": "Two siblings are born naturally on the same
date, in the same year, to the same mother and the same father. However,
they are not twins-neither fraternal nor identical. Is this possible or
impossible?" [2]
- "Consider the letters from A through M. If all possible 13-letter
permutations (no repeated letters) of these letters are arranged in
alphabetical order, what is the 1,234,567,890th permutation in the list?
-adapted from Mathematics Teacher [3] Solution
There's difficulty in a simple
question and even a basic arithmetic operation.
Key Questions
-
What boundaries lie between thought and
"problem-solving"?
- How can information in the mind become useful?
-
What is the relationship between oral
and written communication processes?
-
Which experiences improve the
ability to work with computers?
References
[1] Mitchell, Joseph, McSorley's Wonderful Saloon, NY: Pantheon
Books, 1943, 2001, p. 114.
[2] Chernyak, Yuri B., and Robert M. Rose, The Chicken from Minsk, NY:
HarperCollins BasicBooks, 1995.
[3] The Bent of Tau Beta Pi, Knoxville, TN 37901-2697: P.O. Box 2697,
Spring 2001, p. 52.
[#] http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~klinger/tenpp/index2.html
[&] Words
5 June 2013 Version http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~klinger/words.html