Learning algebra in my 60s

Re:Learning algebra in my 60s by WalterBright on Monday August 08, 2022 @01:49PM (#32388705)

What's 20% of $59.22?

    .2 * 59.22

What price is $2.99 milk with 9.2% inflation?

    2.99 * 1.092

What did $5.00 gas cost last year?

    5.00 / 1.092

I'm not seeing backtracking and lookahead.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Learning algebra in my 60s by ravi-delia on Monday August 08, 2022 @04:21PM (#32390532)

You'll note that English is written left to right. In the string "20%" there is a "2", a "0", and a "%" arranged from left to right. To type that string into a calculator, one could press "2", "0", and "%" in that order, or "0", ".", "2", in that order. To know to lead with "0." rather than "20", you have to look ahead.

For the others you'd have to do the mental work to append a 1 regardless, might as well stick with decimals

[ Parent | on HN ]