Computation Exercises

1 Calculator Screenshot

Download a calculator with a history recording and show how to calculate the unit conversion from 30 meters per second to 67 miles per hour. Upload a phone screenshot to Canvas.

iOS screen shot instructions

Android screen shot instructions

2 PEMDAS Expression

Which of these matches the expression below? (Assume your calculator or computer uses PEMDAS.)

\frac{1}{2} \cdot \frac{3}{4} \cdot \frac{5}{6}

  1. 1 * 3 * 5 / 2 * 4 * 6
  2. 1 * 3 * 5 / (2 / 4 / 6)
  3. 1 * 3 * 5 / 2 / 4 / 6
  4. (1 * 3 * 5) / (2 / 4 / 6)

3 PEMDAS Keystrokes

Which set of keystrokes is equivalent to this set of keystrokes?

1 / 7 * 2 / 4 * 5 / 6

  1. 1 * 2 * 5 / (7 / 4 / 6)
  2. 1 * 2 * 5 / (7 * 4 * 6)

4 PEMDAS Division

Which of these matches the expression below?
(Assume your calculator or computer uses PEMDAS.)

\frac{\frac{a}{b}}{\frac{c}{d}}

  1. a * d / b / c
  2. a / b / (c / d)

5 Calculator Scientific Notation

Which of these is equivalent to 100,000?

  1. 100E2
  2. 10E3
  3. 100E3
  4. 100E4

6 Spreadsheet screenshot

Create a spreadsheet to perform this simple conversion from miles per hour to meters per second and to feet per minute. Use the layout below to arrange your spreadsheet. When you take your screenshot, select View/Show All Formulas, to make your formula visible. Remember to start your formulas with equals and use the row and column labels to represent a cell.

speed (miles per hour) speed (meters per second) speed (feet per minute)
1 insert formula insert formula
2 insert formula insert formula

7 Computational Thinking

Please read the short linked article “Computational Thinking” by Professor Jeannette Wing and write a short essay that answers the following questions.

  • How comfortable are you using computers for productive purposes?
  • Have you used spreadsheets, scripts or programming languages?
  • How would it be important for your future to gain skills at using computers for mathematics?

8 Unit Conversions and Commutation

How many ways can you enter this calculation into a computing device and get the correct answer?

\frac{1\ egg}{chicken\ day} \frac{1\ carton}{12\ egg} \frac{50\ chicken}{1 flock} \frac{7\ day}{1\ week} = 29 \frac{carton}{flock\ week}