Shopping is hard. Let's do math.

[topaz]

Conversation with Quinn during down time at Arisia '11, taking a break from walking around the dealers' room with his brother:

Q: "What's this?" (holds up a Fox Trot panel featuring Jason's math homework)

Me: "It means 'the square root of 9.'"

Q: "What's that?"

Me: "It's the number that makes 9 if you multiply it by itself. So in this case it's three. See, three times three is nine."

Q: "Oh!"

Q: (thinks)

Q: "Well, that doesn't sound so hard."

Me: "Maybe not in this case. But it can be tricky. Like, what's the square root of 81? See? There isn't a really easy way to figure that out except by trial and error."

Q: "Isn't that just 9?"

Me: "..."

Me: "Yes."

Me: "Quinn, how did you figure that out?"

Q (exasperated): "I don't know! I just thought of nine because nine times nine is 81!"

Me: "You just remembered that nine times nine is 81."

Q: "Yes."

Me: "Okay."

Next stop: the Steampunk World's Fair in May, I think.

Posted via LiveJournal app for iPhone.

Comments

[inahandbasket]

SPWF FTW! ;-)

[kimcob.livejournal.com]

This conversation sounds like math with Gabe.

[ceo]

I knew that (that 9 * 9 = 81) at his age, but that's thanks to Multiplication Rock.

[rikpierce.livejournal.com]

I'm sure I didn't know the math at his age, and I sure as he'll don't know what SPWF FTW the heck means (smiley face here so you don't think I'm pissed at geek acronyms)

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

That would be "Steampunk World's Fair, for the win!" inahandbasket and the magnificent band he's in (http://www.ensmb.com/) will be playing the fair in May. :-)

[cruiser.livejournal.com]

Actually, there is an easy (almost as easy as long division) way to figure out square roots. See the "Finding square roots using an algorithm" method shown here: http://www.homeschoolmath.net/teaching/square-root-algorithm.php

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I realize that there are actually a few algorithmic methods for approximating square roots using simple arithmetic, but even though Quinn is pretty good at math I wouldn't say that he's yet at the point where any of them would be "easy" for him.

But then again, of course, the point of this post is that he keeps surprising me.