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are we on the clock answering this?

Posted By: Chuck Bower
Date: Tuesday, 4 May 2010, at 1:38 p.m.

In Response To: OT Analog clock math problems (Jason Lee)

I recall #1 is either 11 or 13. (Someone, quick, how do you figure out which of the two answers is right -- assuming I'm actually remembering correctly.)

When qualifying exams are given to prospective advanced degree students, there almost always one (well, several) brute force methods which take 20+ minutes to work through and one shortcut method which takes just a couple minutes to write down. The students almost always take the long route, probably because they are pretty sure this will work whereas the clever answer can sometimes take longer in the end as you spend a lot of time thinking about how to find the clever answer.

Is this just such a problem? I suspect it is.

Messages In This Thread

• OT Analog clock math problems
  Jason Lee -- Monday, 3 May 2010, at 10:57 p.m.
  • OT Analog clock math problems
    Bob Koca -- Tuesday, 4 May 2010, at 12:11 a.m.
    • OT Analog clock math problems
      Sam Pottle -- Tuesday, 4 May 2010, at 12:24 a.m.
      • OT Analog clock math problems
        Bob Koca -- Tuesday, 4 May 2010, at 12:26 a.m.
  • OT Analog clock math problems
    Bob Koca -- Tuesday, 4 May 2010, at 12:14 a.m.
    • OT Analog clock math problems
      Timothy Chow -- Tuesday, 4 May 2010, at 12:20 a.m.
      • OT Analog clock math problems
        Sam Pottle -- Tuesday, 4 May 2010, at 12:25 a.m.
    • OT Analog clock math problems
      Jason Lee -- Tuesday, 4 May 2010, at 12:34 a.m.
  • OT Analog clock math problems
    Daniel Murphy -- Tuesday, 4 May 2010, at 2:19 a.m.
  • OT Analog clock math problems
    joe freedman -- Tuesday, 4 May 2010, at 2:22 a.m.
    • OT Analog clock math problems
      joe freedman -- Tuesday, 4 May 2010, at 2:34 a.m.
    • OT Analog clock math problems
      Jason Lee -- Tuesday, 4 May 2010, at 3:41 a.m.
  • OT Analog clock math problems
    Daniel Murphy -- Tuesday, 4 May 2010, at 4:59 a.m.
  • OT Analog clock math problems
    Bob Koca -- Tuesday, 4 May 2010, at 6:26 a.m.
    • OT Analog clock math problems
      Bob Koca -- Tuesday, 4 May 2010, at 6:31 a.m.
  • OT Analog clock math problems
    Nack Ballard -- Tuesday, 4 May 2010, at 11:17 a.m.
    • OT Analog clock math problems
      Nack Ballard -- Tuesday, 4 May 2010, at 5:22 p.m.
  • are we on the clock answering this?
    Chuck Bower -- Tuesday, 4 May 2010, at 1:38 p.m.
    • are we on the clock answering this?
      Timothy Chow -- Tuesday, 4 May 2010, at 3:56 p.m.
      • are we on the clock answering this?
        Chuck Bower -- Tuesday, 4 May 2010, at 7:22 p.m.
  • OT Analog clock math problems
    Tom Keith -- Tuesday, 4 May 2010, at 5:36 p.m.
  • OT Analog clock math problems
    storm -- Tuesday, 4 May 2010, at 6:26 p.m.
    • OT Analog clock math problems
      storm -- Tuesday, 4 May 2010, at 6:29 p.m.
      • OT Analog clock math problems
        Nack Ballard -- Tuesday, 4 May 2010, at 8:47 p.m.
        • OT Analog clock math problems
          Nack Ballard -- Wednesday, 5 May 2010, at 2:33 a.m.
  • OT Analog clock math problems
    Daniel Murphy -- Tuesday, 4 May 2010, at 6:47 p.m.