Pre Decimal Arithmetic

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Mick F
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Pre Decimal Arithmetic

Post by Mick F »

I was in Plymouth city centre yesterday, and walked through the market.
There was a poster up by one stall, displaying a January 1964 front page of the Daily Express.

My eye was drawn to an article regarding the 11plus.

I took a photo, and here enclosed is the subject wot amused me, and a subject wot got me thinking about children and younger adults not using arithmetic like wot we used to.
Screen Shot 2022-12-08 at 10.44.49.png
I remember two methods of this sum, and my favourite method was to reduce the pounds shillings and pence to pence.
Do the arithmetic, and then put it back together into pounds shillings and pence.

Tell people today, and they wouldn't believe a time before decimalisation and (God forbid) calculators.
Mick F. Cornwall
Nearholmer
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Re: Pre Decimal Arithmetic

Post by Nearholmer »

I can remember it alright, but even as a child I thought it all seemed rather daft and pointlessly over-complicated, a view which has become firmer with age.
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simonineaston
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Re: Pre Decimal Arithmetic

Post by simonineaston »

...and I recall folks grumbling about the adoption of decimal currency!
S
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Re: Pre Decimal Arithmetic

Post by Nearholmer »

Old people.

They were right about it allowing sneak price rises though, the change from one to the other did.
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Mick F
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Re: Pre Decimal Arithmetic

Post by Mick F »

:lol:

We oldies remember long division and long multiple multiplication.
Mick F. Cornwall
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Re: Pre Decimal Arithmetic

Post by Nearholmer »

Fine, but where you are off-beam is in thinking that children these days aren’t taught it, and can’t do it: they are, and they can.
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Re: Pre Decimal Arithmetic

Post by rjb »

It's easy to split 2 Bob equally between 4 people, a tanner each. Try that with 10p :lol:
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Re: Pre Decimal Arithmetic

Post by axel_knutt »

It's long irked me that the decimal clock never got off the ground.
rjb wrote: 8 Dec 2022, 5:07pm It's easy to split 2 Bob equally between 4 people, a tanner each. Try that with 10p :lol:
Try splitting 2 bob between 5.
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Mick F
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Re: Pre Decimal Arithmetic

Post by Mick F »

Split two bob between five?
Easy!

24d divided by five is 4d each with 4d kept over for later.
Mick F. Cornwall
Mike Sales
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Re: Pre Decimal Arithmetic

Post by Mike Sales »

Split a pound into three parts.
6/8d.
It's the same the whole world over
It's the poor what gets the blame
It's the rich what gets the pleasure
Isn't it a blooming shame?
Dingdong
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Re: Pre Decimal Arithmetic

Post by Dingdong »

Mike Sales wrote: 8 Dec 2022, 7:51pm Split a pound into three parts.
6/8d.
Ooh, that's a tough one.
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Tigerbiten
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Re: Pre Decimal Arithmetic

Post by Tigerbiten »

Mike Sales wrote: 8 Dec 2022, 7:51pm Split a pound into three parts.
6/8d.
or 5 1/3 oz.

Luck .... :P
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Re: Pre Decimal Arithmetic

Post by millimole »

Nearholmer wrote:Fine, but where you are off-beam is in thinking that children these days aren’t taught it, and can’t do it: they are, and they can.
And at quite a young age - my 8 year old granddaughter can do long division quicker than I ever could, and can manipulate surprisingly complex numbers in her head - yet she's only in the top third of her class.
We oldens might /think/ modern education is poor, but they are taught different things differently. It's fitting them out for a very different world (like it or not)
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irc
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Re: Pre Decimal Arithmetic

Post by irc »

i suspect mental arithmetic is not taught as well as it was. Arguably it isn't needed as much because of calculators. Though having a rough idea of where the answer will be is a useful check for mis-keying a number or getting a decimal point in the wrong place.

A graduate I worked with was unable to substract one 2 figure number from another to complete a logbook without writing it out. Then there was the time we ordered a new tumble drier in a high st shop. Price £119.99. We were required to leave a deposit of at least 10%. So I said "make the deposit £19.99 then." The assistant got a calculator out and after pressin a few buttons told us that would leave £100 to pay when we picked it up.
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Cowsham
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Re: Pre Decimal Arithmetic

Post by Cowsham »

Tried showing my sons how fractions are more accurate than decimals but I think they couldn't be bothered listening to an owl boy rambling on about back in the day.
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