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Monday, November 30, 2009

Google Sends Texas Kids to Madville Times... for Algebra Help

At 2:19 this afternoon, some poor soul on the Dallas County Schools network Googled this question:

stephanie's phone plan charges her a price that is directly proportional to the number of minutes she talks. one month she talked 2010 minutes and paid $67. if she talks 1400 minutes, how much will she have

Google's first response: my blog.

Sorry, kids. When Google doesn't know the answer, it apparently turns to me. I'm flattered. Assuming the question concludes, "How much will she have to pay?" the answer is...
  1. ...less than $67, since she talked less, right?
  2. ...found by using fractions!
  3. ...sure to bubble up in the comment section, as I bet my readers will enjoy an algebraic diversion.
And if my readers can't get it, well, I'll provide an answer after supper in the comment section. Enjoy! Thanks, Google!
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6 comments:

  1. Nick Nemec11/30/2009 5:54 PM

    $46.67

    ReplyDelete
  2. Michael11/30/2009 6:18 PM

    Our gov't has certain fees, taxes and access charges that are quite separate from the total minutes used.

    Now if we had a larger sample set we might be able to figure out what those fees were and then plug them into our equation.

    ReplyDelete
  3. cp12/01/2009 12:06 AM

    ... absolutely nothing! The telecommunications lobbyists would be happy to extend free minutes to our at-large representative!

    ReplyDelete
  4. cp12/01/2009 12:09 AM

    I continue... this isn't so mysterious, just look at the keywords Google hooked on:


    stephanie's phone plan charges her a price that is directly proportional to the number of minutes she talks. one month she talked 2010 minutes and paid $67. if she talks 1400 minutes, how much will she have

    Not that I'm annoyed or anything...

    ReplyDelete
  5. caheidelberger12/01/2009 6:20 AM

    That's what I love about HS (or maybe middle school?) algebra: you can live in blissful abstraction, away from the complications of politics and corporate machinations. John and Mary sell raisins and nuts at the corner store, blissfully unregulated, untrobled by competition from Wal-Mart. Yolanda milks cows, unharassed by the Farm Bureau or Monsanto....

    Oh yeah, the problem! Nick is right! Set up two fractions, dollars in the numerator, minutes in the denominator, and set them eqaul to each other:

    2010/67 = x/1400

    Multiply both sides of the equation by 1400. There's your x!

    ReplyDelete
  6. caheidelberger12/01/2009 6:21 AM

    But remember, Curtis, it's "ridiculous" to suggest that those lobbyists would be able to sway anyone's vote with such a donation. ;-)

    ReplyDelete

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