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What was a fact taught to you in school that has been proven false during your lifetime? (lemmy.ca)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml
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[โ€“] 2 points 1 year ago (1 child)

Nope, went through "(6 ร— 5) + 6". Slightly slower, but much more flexible since you can do that with any (base 10 representation of a) number that has a reasonable number of digits.

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  • [โ€“] 1 point 1 year ago (1 child)

    What? How is multiplying by 5 more convenient than any other number?

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  • [โ€“] 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

    When dealing with base 10 representations, multiplying by 10 is a simple matter of adding zeroes;
    dividing numbers that end with a zero by two is (usually) an afterthought;
    doing both operations in that sequence is (usually) equally trivial, the only effortful thing I have to do is adding or subtracting a multiplicand, once or twice or thrice.

    It's not easier than having the result imprinted in my memory, but it cuts away ~ three quarters of the table.

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