[ale] [OT] Software and file formats for on-line/correspondence chemical education

[Drifter]

You've got to be kidding.  It really took more than 90 seconds to solve 
this problem?

If a dollar bill is 6" long, then 2 to the foot.
at 5,280 feet to the mile that is 10,650 bills to the mile. (btm)
tack 5 zeros on to the end gets you to the moon: 1,065,000,000 bills.
double that to get the round trip total: 2,130,000,000 bills.

My opinion of DeVry students just took a significant hit.

Sean

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> On 1/21/12 2:43 PM, Ron Frazier wrote:
> > I was once teaching a basic math class at DeVry.  I spent most of a
> > class period and filled up two white boards doing this exact type of
> > conversions.  My hypothetical question to the class was, how many
> > dollar bills (assuming 6" long) would it take to reach end to end to
> > and from the moon if the moon is 100,000 mi. away (I don't really
> > know how far away the moon is).  It was quite interesting, and the
> > example, which I made up on the spur of the moment, turned out to be
> > a bit harder and longer to solve that I thought.  However, I think I
> > made my point of how critical it is to keep track of all the units
> > at each point and write your ratios in the right order, so if you
> > need inches / ft., you don't write ft. / inch.  We finally got the
> > answer, using no automated conversions on the calculator at all.  I
> > was rather proud of the example, but I think the students were glad
> > when the bell rang.
> > 
> > Sincerely,
> > 
> > Ron
> > 
> > On 1/21/2012 10:37 AM, Tom Freeman wrote:
> > 
> > <snip>
> > 
> >> To continue with a sequence of conversions:
> >>                       _75.2 in_ = _?_ cm_
> >> 
> >> convert in ->   cm      1 in       2.54 cm  ===>   191.008 cm
> >> 
> >>                       _191.008_cm   = _?_m_
> >> 
> >> convert cm ->   m      100 cm         1 m   ===>   1.91008 m
> >> 
> >>                       _1.91008_m_  = _?_Km_
> >> 
> >> convert m ->   Km      1000 m        1 Km   ===>   0.00191008 Km
> 
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