p.57 (8) A meadow contains 3 acres 2 roods 20 sq. perches, and yields 2¾ tons of hay per acre. Find the yield of hay from the whole field.
Here is the area table:
144 sq. inches = 1 sq. foot;
9 sq. ft. = 1 sq. yard;
30¼ sq. yd. = 1 sq. perch;
40 sq. pers. = 1 rood;
4 rds. = 1 acre;
640 acres = 1 sq. mile.
This derives in part from the length table:
12 ins. = 1 ft.
3 ft. = 1 yd.
5½ yds. = 1 perch
40 pers. = 1 furlong
8 furs. = 1 mile.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Price of Apples
p115 (62) I buy 208 apples at 16 for 1s. 8d. and 280 at 14 for 1s. 3d. After 12½% have gone bad I sell the remainder at 1½d. each. What do I gain? What is my percentage gain? (Ans. correct to the nearest whole number).
From this and other problems, I gather that the current retailer's rule of pricing to make 50% profit was not current in those days. Either that, or the CB's were trying to promote the expectation of a moderate return in future entrpreneurs.
From this and other problems, I gather that the current retailer's rule of pricing to make 50% profit was not current in those days. Either that, or the CB's were trying to promote the expectation of a moderate return in future entrpreneurs.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Wages of men, women and children
p114 (59) A business man employing 16 men, 10 women and 6 boys pays 1½ times as much weekly to each man as he does to each woman and each woman receives 1½ times as much as each boy weekly. If the total weekly wage bill amounts to £133 19s. how much does each man receive weekly?
Monday, November 23, 2009
Price of Flour
p.92 (3) A grocer bought flour at £ 16 3s 4d per ton. At what price per stone must he sell it so as to gain 15 per cent?
(1 st. = 14 lbs; 1 cwt. (a hundredweight) = 8 st; 1 ton = 20 cwt.)
3/4 (3s. 4d.) was popular in sums: It is exactly one-sixth of a pound.
(1 st. = 14 lbs; 1 cwt. (a hundredweight) = 8 st; 1 ton = 20 cwt.)
3/4 (3s. 4d.) was popular in sums: It is exactly one-sixth of a pound.
Chains and Links
p. 106 (20) A rectangular field is 12 chains 60 links long and 9 chains 35 links wide. Find, correct to the nearest shilling, the value of the crop obtained from this field at a rate of £ 11 17s. 6d. per acre.
(100 links= 1 chain; 10 sq. chains = 1 acre).
A chain is 22 yards. So a link is exactly 7.92 inches -- curious. This was a small eruption of decimality in a world dominated by factors of 2 and 3.
I'm interested in where they put the full stops, in relation to the brackets. I would have put the last one inside the right bracket.
(100 links= 1 chain; 10 sq. chains = 1 acre).
A chain is 22 yards. So a link is exactly 7.92 inches -- curious. This was a small eruption of decimality in a world dominated by factors of 2 and 3.
I'm interested in where they put the full stops, in relation to the brackets. I would have put the last one inside the right bracket.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Sugar Rations
p.112 (39) "A lorry containing 5 tons of sugar, valued at £233
and representing a weekly ration for 18,520 people was stolen."
From this statement find, to the nearest oz., the weekly ration of sugar per person and the cost of this ration to each person (Ans. correct to nearest &half d.).
(1£ = 240 d.; 1 ton = 2240 lb.; 1 lb = 16 oz. lb.stands for pound, oz. for ounce)
When I was very young, we had the farthing coin, one quarter of a penny, as well as the ha'penny.
Rationing continued here for a few years after the war (WW2) ended.
and representing a weekly ration for 18,520 people was stolen."
From this statement find, to the nearest oz., the weekly ration of sugar per person and the cost of this ration to each person (Ans. correct to nearest &half d.).
(1£ = 240 d.; 1 ton = 2240 lb.; 1 lb = 16 oz. lb.stands for pound, oz. for ounce)
When I was very young, we had the farthing coin, one quarter of a penny, as well as the ha'penny.
Rationing continued here for a few years after the war (WW2) ended.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Aer Lingus Traffic
p.112 (38) The number of passengers carried by Aer Lingus for the year ending March 31st was 167,349, and increase of 14,716 over the previous year. What percentage increase does this represent?
We should be able to figure out what year that was!
By comparison, they carried 8 million in 2008.
We should be able to figure out what year that was!
By comparison, they carried 8 million in 2008.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Free Meals
p. 97 (11) The total cost of free meals supplied to 160 children in this district was £138 6s. at 2.14d per meal. For how many days were the children supplied with these meals?
(1£=20s., 1s.=12d.; d. was the symbol for penny, from the latin denarius.)
When I was in Primary School, in the 50's, most of the kids lined up at lunchtime and marched to the Town Hall for a free lunch. As a trademan's son, I had to go home to dinner instead. They got thick slices of white bread with margerine, and cocoa. I got meat, vegetables and potatoes, and tea. I would have loved to go with them, but it was forbidden by the rigid social stratification. Mom occasionally made me some cocoa, as compensation. I did not miss the margerine, which was truly awful in those days: the trick was to dip the bread in the sweet cocoa.
(1£=20s., 1s.=12d.; d. was the symbol for penny, from the latin denarius.)
When I was in Primary School, in the 50's, most of the kids lined up at lunchtime and marched to the Town Hall for a free lunch. As a trademan's son, I had to go home to dinner instead. They got thick slices of white bread with margerine, and cocoa. I got meat, vegetables and potatoes, and tea. I would have loved to go with them, but it was forbidden by the rigid social stratification. Mom occasionally made me some cocoa, as compensation. I did not miss the margerine, which was truly awful in those days: the trick was to dip the bread in the sweet cocoa.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Champagne versus Whiskey
The Christian Brothers aimed to prepare us for life:
p.108 (15) If whiskey is 60% alcoholand champagne 11% alcohol, how many pints of champagne would be necessary so as to supply the same amount of alcohol as a quart of whiskey?
A quart is 2 pints. That's quite a lot of whiskey.
p.108 (15) If whiskey is 60% alcoholand champagne 11% alcohol, how many pints of champagne would be necessary so as to supply the same amount of alcohol as a quart of whiskey?
A quart is 2 pints. That's quite a lot of whiskey.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Unsubsidised tea?
p.107 (6) If 1 lb. of unsubsidised tea costs 5/6, how many francs would buy 1 kilogram? (Ans. to nearest whole franc). (1 Kilogram=2.2 lbs.; 1097 francs=£1).
What? What was subsidised tea?
For youngsters: 5/6 means 5 shillings and 6 pence.
What? What was subsidised tea?
For youngsters: 5/6 means 5 shillings and 6 pence.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Student Nurses' Pay
Page 107, problem (3): The following is a newspaper advertisement for student nurses: 1st year £ 230; 2nd year £ 240; 3rd year £ 255 with deduction of £ 100 per annum for board. What is the average annual net income of each nurse for the years in question?
(I see that the HTML for the pound symbol is £. Every day we learn a little, or increasingly, perhaps, re-learn.)
(I see that the HTML for the pound symbol is £. Every day we learn a little, or increasingly, perhaps, re-learn.)
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Seventh Class Arithmetic, 1949: Read it and weep.
The book is "Arithmetic for Sixth and Higher Standards", by The Christian Brothers. Gill and Son. Dublin. Bears no date, but internal evidence puts a lower bound of 1949 on the date.
The Christian Brothers never signed their books, individually. All were treated as the work of the community.
This copy seemed to belong to a James Hall, from Inchicore.
I'll blog a problem, perhaps regularly. The authors appear to have taken some care to use realistic numbers, so the volume has much to tell about wages, commercial practice, and even priorities and attitudes.
107(7) (Page 107, number 7): A man with two sons in a day-school and 2 in boarding school, can just pay the total school fees from the yearly interest he receives from a certain investment. If the half-yearly fee in the day-school is 8 guineas per pupil and the yearly fee in the boarding school is 93 guineas per pupil, find the amount of the investment at a rate of 4 and a half percent.
(For younger readers, wishing to understand these prices, a guinea is 21 shillings, 20 shillings make a pound, and the pound became 1.27 euro in 1999. To be precise, the pound became (1/0.787564) euro. Of course, this information is unnecessary for the solution of the problem. On the other hand, the solution may be puzzling if you don't know that a shilling is 12 pence.)
The Christian Brothers never signed their books, individually. All were treated as the work of the community.
This copy seemed to belong to a James Hall, from Inchicore.
I'll blog a problem, perhaps regularly. The authors appear to have taken some care to use realistic numbers, so the volume has much to tell about wages, commercial practice, and even priorities and attitudes.
107(7) (Page 107, number 7): A man with two sons in a day-school and 2 in boarding school, can just pay the total school fees from the yearly interest he receives from a certain investment. If the half-yearly fee in the day-school is 8 guineas per pupil and the yearly fee in the boarding school is 93 guineas per pupil, find the amount of the investment at a rate of 4 and a half percent.
(For younger readers, wishing to understand these prices, a guinea is 21 shillings, 20 shillings make a pound, and the pound became 1.27 euro in 1999. To be precise, the pound became (1/0.787564) euro. Of course, this information is unnecessary for the solution of the problem. On the other hand, the solution may be puzzling if you don't know that a shilling is 12 pence.)
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