Situations + Calculator = Not Always!

 We all have that one student who wants to use a calculator to find the answer to a problem not realizing there are situations where you do not want the answer to have decimals.  Unfortunately, many students want to turn everything including fractions into decimals so they don't have to find a common denominator. They don't realize there are situations where having the required amount in decimal form is going to make it difficult to purchase.

For instance, I sew much of my clothing but they do not sell material in a decimal form.  Usually you have to buy material in units such as 4 1/3 yard or 3 1/2 yard.  I've never had anyone ask me "Was that 4.3333333333333 yards you wanted?".  They use the fractions all the time.

Another instance is when purchasing lumber.  All lumber is sold using whole numbers and fractions.  I know my father has never said he needed 6.45 feet of wood.  He might say he needs 6 1/2 feet of wood for the project.   There are so many things sold by the foot or yard that are always done with fractions.

Furthermore, when buying certain things like paint, you end up using whole numbers or numbers broken down to smaller sizes but you don't use decimals.  When you plan to paint a room, you usually find the area of all four surfaces of the room.  Once you get the total, you'll have to divide it by the number of square feet one gallon of paint covers to find out the number of gallons you'll need.  Unfortunately, many students do not think about needing to round up so they will give an answer like 5.78 gallons, perhaps 5.8 instead of 6 gallons.  Sometimes you might get 5 gallons and 3 quarts but most people find it easier to round to the next whole.

This also applies to things like carpet, tiles, flooring, even ceiling tiles.  I priced flooring, wooden type, so I could redo the living room and it came in boxes that covered a certain area.  I had to calculate the number of boxes I needed and I had to round up to make sure I had enough.

Most recipes in the United States are listed using fractions.  I've never cooked using a recipe that asked for 1.3333333 cups of sugar.  It called for 1 1/3 cups of sugar or 1/2 teaspoon of salt.  Check out most American cookbooks and you'll see them filled with fractions.

The other day, I explained to one young man that he needed to do the division to include a remainder because there are times it is necessary to know if there is a left over.  For instance, your grandmother gave you $358 to share among you and your three siblings.  How much would each person get and how much would be left over.  He discovered he had a remainder of $2.00 so I asked him what he would do with the remainder.  He stated he'd give it back to his grandmother.

The same applies to splitting up candy or other items similar to that.  You will not give 6.56 pieces of candy to each person but you might give 6 pieces to each person and keep the remainder for yourself so you get more.  This is real life since most things do not split equally among people be it candy or money.

These are instances where calculators are not good because most give you a decimal remainder rather than a fractional list.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.