(January 27, 2010 at 6:00 pm)Dotard Wrote: If you're offering these up as math problems then present them as such. Presented as they were they appear as 'trick' questions.
As you say, open ended. You say "OF COURSE it has to be simple..." well then my 'solution' of handing the worker a segment and having him break off the change is the simplest and does not violate the implied rule "If you are only allowed to make two breaks in the gold bar..." as YOU did not break it, he did. Just as "correct" as the correct answer.
Jeez I love being difficult.
Perhaps you didn't see his previous thread about these but he is getting the problems from books he got for christmas.