Units of Measurement

[Harpo]

And another thing - the number of sand grains on all the beaches in the world.

Tide in or tide out?

 

[Ursa major]

At least all double deckers are the same height.

And not all students progress to the next grade based purely on age in some school jurisdictions.

 

[Dave]

At least all double deckers are the same height.

Double-decker coaches in the UK have traditionally been 12 metres (39 feet 4 inches) in length, though many newer models are about 13.75 metres (45 ft 1 in). Coaches are normally built to 4.38 metres (14 ft 4 in) high, while 'highbridge' buses are normally about 20 centimetres (8 in) taller.

And another thing - the number of sand grains on all the beaches in the world.

Tide in or tide out?

On Ordnance Survey Maps the water level is shown as Ordnance Datum Newlyn (ODN) which was approximately the mean tidal level between 1915 and 1921, but however you measure them, there are still more stars in the Universe.

 

[farntfar]

And it may not be noticeable, but I suspect a double decker bus would be slightly taller at high-tide.

 

[Cthulhu.Science]

And it may not be noticeable, but I suspect a double decker bus would be slightly taller at high-tide.

AND, a double decker bus is approximately 2.8 fifth graders, at high tide.

 

[farntfar]

That's only if you're measuring with the newly available tide-resistant fifth graders.

 

[Alex The G and T]

From the answer I found on Quora, I'm assuming a 5th grader is 12-years-old.

The fact that such an answer already existed to be searched for, means that someone must have asked it before. So, you and I were not alone in our lack of understanding.

Is the "height of a 5th Grader" something that would be commonly used in the US? Much like the "height of a double decker bus" seems to be a common measurement in the newspapers in the UK?

I finished 6 th Grade when I had just turned 12. I think anyone still in grade 5 at age 12 would have been considered of substandard teachability; and probably riding the "short bus;" meaning, not only was the bus short in length, but that the riders are short on intellect compared to the size of a standard school bus.

I was age- appropriate for my grade; but significantly shorter than most in my class. Especially, the girls tended to tower over the boys at that age.

All of which is probably why, no, "Height of a fifth grader" not a common size comparison in the US, or anywhere that I've ever heard.

 

[psikeyhackr]

From the answer I found on Quora, I'm assuming a 5th grader is 12-years-old.

The fact that such an answer already existed to be searched for, means that someone must have asked it before. So, you and I were not alone in our lack of understanding.

Is the "height of a 5th Grader" something that would be commonly used in the US? Much like the "height of a double decker bus" seems to be a common measurement in the newspapers in the UK?

In the United States a 5th grader should be 10 years old.

 

[Cthulhu.Science]

In the United States a 5th grader should be 10 years old.

So, somewhere between 1 and 2 meters tall, depending on growth spurts -- average in US 4 feet 9 inches about 145 cm.

[Girls and Boys are about the same height at that age, on average.]

 

[Yozh]

“Taller than a fifth grader” is an allusion to a TV quiz show “Are you smarter than a fifth grader?”

Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? (TV Series 2007–2019) 4.9 | Family, Game-Show

 

[JunkMonkey]

I may be showing my age but whenever I see the word 'graders' I don't think about kids, I think about :

...and the fifth one looks to be the same height as all the others.

 

[psikeyhackr]

So, somewhere between 1 and 2 meters tall, depending on growth spurts -- average in US 4 feet 9 inches about 145 cm.

[Girls and Boys are about the same height at that age, on average.]

A 1.95 meter 5th grader would be really terrifying!

Might be an alien.

 

[Danny McG]

I'm just throwing this one in here, it's the misconception that 1/4 is bigger than 1/3.

 

[CupofJoe]

Maybe apocryphal

Did Third-of-a-Pound Burger Fail Because People Didn't Understand Fractions?

Fractions, man.

www.snopes.com

 

[Cthulhu.Science]

In the US, learning fractions (add, subtract, multiply, divide) is a standard part of 5th grade Math (singular in the US) program.

Is teaching fractions important in other countries? I'd imagine those using the metric system would have less use of fractions.

Americans use fractions a lot.

 

[Ursa major]

We did quite a lot of about fractions** at school... but that was a very long time ago. I have no idea how much about them is taught now.


** - Including (in the days before calcalators) a quick way to generate a not very accurate value for pi (22/7: accurate to two decimal places) and a somewhat less inaccurate value of pi (355/113: accurate to 6 decimal places).

 

[Cthulhu.Science]

We did quite a lot of about fractions** at school... but that was a very long time ago. I have no idea how much about them is taught now.


** - Including (in the days before calcalators) a quick way to generate a not very accurate value for pi (22/7: accurate to two decimal places) and a somewhat less inaccurate value of pi (355/113: accurate to 6 decimal places).

Curious about 22/7 for pi. I heard about this just a couple years ago. I'd always known pi as 3.14159.

 

[Ursa major]

Curious about 22/7 for pi.

22/7 was mentioned when we were really quite young and didn't need an anywhere near precise value for PI.

In any case, 355/113 was easily remembered and was more than precise enough for anything we were doing.

 

[Dave]

And another thing... the use of "at the speed of light" to mean something fantastically quick...

The no politics rule is in play, but a politician just used it today. Now I expect that for a certain generation, breaking the "sound barrier," and aircraft travelling faster than the speed of sound, still has an echo of cutting edge engineering, and that by association, "the speed of light" might appear to be another step beyond that. However, not only is it an obtainable velocity for a mass to achieve, but even for electromagnetic radiation, it is not instantaneous, and as already noted, it is really rather slow:

what about over much, much larger distances where speed of light communication means weeks, months, centuries?

So, given that, why is the "speed of light" bandied about so much as an expression of something incredibly fast?

He delivered the speech at something approaching the speed of light.

The race car zoomed down the track at the speed of light

In class, she picked up everything with the speed of light.

In these examples, it is trite and quite meaningless, and just as much of a cliché as "at the end of the day" or "to make a long story short".

Maybe I should blame Freddie Mercury? i.e. Don't Stop Me Now

Please stop using it! Use something original and imaginative instead.

 

[Venusian Broon]

However, not only is it an obtainable velocity for a mass to achieve,

??? I think you are missing a word there. As in 'not an obtainable velocity for a mass to achieve'

but even for electromagnetic radiation, it is not instantaneous, and as already noted, it is really rather slow:

Rather slow? I mean, relative to the size of the universe, you could say that, but...

So, given that, why is the "speed of light" bandied about so much as an expression of something incredibly fast?

...It's the fastest anything in nature will go. The fastest. Full stop.

Okay, okay, there's potentially a bit of weirdness in quantum mechanics where events can (perhaps) be instantaneous, which is, I suppose the ultimate in speed, so if you're wanting to make a smartass metaphor, I suppose you could say something like: Suze picked up the German language as fast as an entangled particle pair being measured and decohering. But that doesn't really roll off the tongue.

In these examples, it is trite and quite meaningless, and just as much of a cliché as "at the end of the day" or "to make a long story short".

Are those real examples? They are terrible!