Here are three simple maths problems that you should be able to do in your head:
- A smartphone and a case cost $110 in total. The phone costs $100 more than the case. How much does the case cost?
- It takes 8 printers 8 minutes to print 8 brochures. How long would it take 24 printers to print 24 brochures?
- On a field there is a patch of weeds. Every day the patch doubles in size. It takes 30 days for the patch to cover the whole field. How long does it take for the patch to cover half the field?
Solutions will be provided at a later date.
I’m going to preface my thoughts about Christine Ball’s fascinating story of The Chloroformist who brought anaesthesia to the operating table with a confession: I am brave about snakes, spiders and the dentist, but although everybody else has their cataracts done with a local anaesthetic, I didn’t. I got myself in such a state about the mere idea of being conscious while they messed about with my eyes, that they had to knock me out properly to do it. I felt even more ashamed of myself when I read in the first chapter, the list of procedures performed without anaesthetic during the chloroformist’s apprenticeship :
