Numeracy challenge

theFijian

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Economic recovery 'threatened by poor maths skills' - Telegraph

It was claimed that poor maths skills could be costing the UK economy more than £20billion a year.

A survey of more than 2,300 adults found that almost a third had trouble with numeracy. One-in-four rated their maths as no better than satisfactory while a further seven per cent said their skills were poor or very poor.

But the charity National Numeracy – which is leading the drive – insisted that the data was likely to be a serious underestimation as previous research found a "significant mismatch" between people’s perceptions of maths and their actual ability.

One study three years ago revealed that a third of adults who believed their maths was "very good" actually performed poorly in real assessments.

Previous research has found that virtually half the working-age population have the maths skills of children aged 11 or below.

Can you pass the National Numeracy Challenge? - Telegraph

I managed to get 100% but had to write stuff down for the last few questions, I daren't give it to my wife to try.
 

ebia

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ebia

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Robban said:
Was it Q5? I did not get that one at all.
What's to not get:

The World Series Snooker tournament starts with 64 contestants. How many rounds must be played before a champion is found?

Each round knocks out half of the people,until you are down to 1.

2^6 = 64
So the answer is 6
 
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Robban

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What's to not get:

The World Series Snooker tournament starts with 64 contestants. How many rounds must be played before a champion is found?

Each round knocks out half of the people,until you are down to 1.

2^6 = 64
So the answer is 6

I thought two people played snooker, thinking it is something like biljard,

so if a round is a game, then 32 rounds must be played .......

No, it is no use Ebia, I don,t know anything about the game.

It is a riddle how it can be 6, but there you go, was never a whizz kid anyway.
 
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ebia

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Robban said:
I thought two people played snooker, thinking it is something like biljard, so if a round is a game, then 32 rounds must be played ....... No, it is no use Ebia, I don,t know anything about the game. It is a riddle how it can be 6, but there you go, was never a whizz kid anyway.
A "round" is a set of games, where everyone plays one other opponent once, with the loser of each game being eliminated.
The first round is 32 games, 32 people are eliminated, leaving 32
Second round is 16 games, 16 people are eliminated, leaving 16
Third round 8 and 8
Fourth round 4 and 4
Fifth round 2 and 2
Final, 6th round, 1 game, one person eliminated, 1 champion.

Total number of games is 32+16+8+4+2+1 = 64-1 = 63
 
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Robban

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A "round" is a set of games, where everyone plays one other opponent once, with the loser of each game being eliminated.
The first round is 32 games, 32 people are eliminated, leaving 32
Second round is 16 games, 16 people are eliminated, leaving 16
Third round 8 and 8
Fourth round 4 and 4
Fifth round 2 and 2
Final, 6th round, 1 game, one person eliminated, 1 champion.

Total number of games is 32+16+8+4+2+1 = 64-1 = 63

Thanks for the explanation, it is coming, slowly.
 
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Economic recovery 'threatened by poor maths skills' - Telegraph



Can you pass the National Numeracy Challenge? - Telegraph

I managed to get 100% but had to write stuff down for the last few questions, I daren't give it to my wife to try.

Came across that a while back.

The biggest eye opener for me was that apparently there are lots of people out there who have been through our educational system (where standards have apparently never been higher) and yet are unable to answer questions like these.

Just to be clear, when I say "unable to answer" I'm talking about the people who can't get at least most of them right, not the people who did it in their head and slipped a decimal point or something.
 
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Robban

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Came across that a while back.

The biggest eye opener for me was that apparently there are lots of people out there who have been through our educational system (where standards have apparently never been higher) and yet are unable to answer questions like these.

Just to be clear, when I say "unable to answer" I'm talking about the people who can't get at least most of them right, not the people who did it in their head and slipped a decimal point or something.

I did them in my head, it was no problem until the snooker one, Q5,
then I lost intrest.

It was just a bit of fun.
 
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