Since the Mathman morning announcements have been reduced like the greatest common factor between the numerator and denominator (i.e. cancelled) for a while, I've had some time to head out into the "real world" and fight bad math at every intersection.
It didn't take long for me to find this example:
Wow. Sounds like a fabulous toy (THAT YOU SHOULD NEVER BRING TO SCHOOL). I mean, who wants to take the effort to throw a snowball?
Anyways, If I'm going to plop down >$20 on a piece of plastic I want to know how well it works. So I went looking for some information and found:
Ad copy #1:
The 50 Foot Snowball Launcher.
STOP RIGHT HERE! 50 FOOT SNOWBALLS! RADICAL!
This toy blaster makes and launches softball-sized snowballs up to 50', allowing rapid, long-range assaults during neighborhood snowball confrontations.
Wait a second... It doesn't launch 50 foot snowballs, it launches smaller snowballs up to 50 feet. That's a bummer.
Ad copy #2:
Snowball Blaster by Wham-O
*Snowball Maker/ Launcher
*Makes and launches Snowballs up to 80 feet (24 meters)
*Compelling Box Packaging
So does it launch snowballs 50 feet or 80 feet (24 meters)?
Ad copy #3:
Product Description:
Protect your turf and defend your snow fort with a snowball maker and launcher
Snow toy makes and launches Snowballs up to 50 feet (16 meters)
By this point I was really confused. The numbers don't match.
Why?
A: My guess is probably poor font choice. When I looked at the actual package it appeared to say "80ft (16m)". This advertising ploy was pure genius. That's because 80 feet is much farther than 16m. Here's some math:
Since 1 meter = 39.37 inches it follows that
1 m .... ..... 16 m
----------- = --------- = (approx.) 52.5 ft.
39.37 in.... 629.92 in
We could also check the 80 feet and figure out how many meters that is.
Since 1 in = 2.54 cm, 12 in (1 ft) = 30.48 cm. So,
1 ft.... .... 80 ft
----------- = --------- = (approx.) 24.4 m
30.48 cm.. 2438.4 cm
The poor font choice for the 5 or 8 made the 50 or 80 very confusing. The PSSA graders probably would have ruled that "ILL" for illegible. Definitely less than a proficient score would be awarded to this product.
In conclusion, since you CAN'T use this at school, why bother paying >$30 for something so impractical? Something that would be much handier (and much less money) would be a scientific calculator with a fraction button. That, coupled with a bit of conversion common sense (CCS) would allow you to figure out that the claims made for this toy are at best confusing.
Keep your eyes open, #2 pencils sharp, and leave the snowballs at home.
Until next time,
Stay radical.