• Jo Miran@lemmy.ml
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        5 days ago

        I see them as the same except that your way illustrates what his parentheses are doing.

        • Cheradenine@sh.itjust.works
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          5 days ago

          The way I see it the parentheses are good, it the 17x3 that hurts my brain.

          It’s already broken down, then gets more complicated by the 17x3. In my mind I now need to separate 17 into 10 and 7 then multiply them each by 3 and add them together, which is where we started in the first place.

          Brains are different, that’s how mine goes though.

          • Jo Miran@lemmy.ml
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            5 days ago

            I understood that to be a reference to the original screenshot. Thus the two equal signs. It was a way to walk you through how the breakdown ties back in.
            ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

            • Cheradenine@sh.itjust.works
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              5 days ago

              Not disagreeing, and I upvoted you for a different perspective. I did not see it that way, though I do now.

              Like I said, brains are different.

    • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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      4 days ago

      Or the way I do it:

      • 3 * 20 = 60
      • 60 - 51 = 9
      • 20 - (9 / 3) = 17

      So the factors are 17 and 3. I know 3 is a factor because 5+1=6, which is divisible by 3, so I just use a convenient multiple of 3 that’s pretty close to the actual number to get the divisor.

      I have young kids and they keep asking me to do crazy math problems while driving, so that’s generally the trick I use.

    • Jo Miran@lemmy.ml
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      5 days ago

      This is how I have always calculated in my head. It used to drive my mom and my teachers crazy when they asked me to verbalize my calculations. It was like I was hurting them somehow. I never understood why.