Through Math for America, I am part of an on-going collaboration with the New York Times Learning Network. My latest contribution, a Test Yourself quiz-question, can be found here:
http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/14/test-yourself-math-feb-14-2011/
This problem is based on comparing the total national incomes of the United States and China. My solution offers a simple way to turn per capita income and population into meaningful percentages.
I wonder if this will be a popular query on WolframAlpha today:
Thanks to @mathematicsprof for the idea!
Related Posts
I have definitely wasted some time playing around with this: a website that uses side-by-side Google Maps to show a locations’s antipodal point on Earth.
Apparently I was never in any danger of digging my way to China as a young boy. To do that, I would have had to start in Argentina.
This report from CareerCast ranks 200 jobs from best to worst:
http://www.careercast.com/jobs-rated/2011-ranking-200-jobs-best-worst
Jobs were analyzed based on five factors: Environment, Income, Outlook, Stress, and Physical Demands.
As is so often the case in these job-ranking surveys, math-based careers fared very well: coming in at #2 is Mathematician (whatever that means), #3 is Actuary (always near the top of these lists), and at #4 is Statistician (great if you like stats, I suppose).
I guess Roustabout is not as much fun as it sounds, as it placed 200th in the rankings. And I’ve met a lot of happy, successful Taxi Drivers (#192) in my life.
It’s not surprising to see Teacher in the #100 spot, with its high stress-to-income ratio. But Surgeon right behind at #101? According to the results, it’s about 3 times as stressful but about 7 times the pay.
Might be worthwhile to take a closer look at the methodology, which can be found here.
Prior to seeing this sign, I had no idea Chicken McNuggets could ever be purchased in quantities greater than 20.
Furthermore, at $10.99, this is the lowest price-per-nugget I have ever seen, coming in at just around 22 cents per McNugget. That’s over 10% cheaper than the limited-time 4-McNuggets-for-a-dollar special!
Since this offer is available only in Puerto Rico, a serious price analysis would have to include some kind of cost-of-living / value-of-the-dollar comparison.
If I recall correctly, the Big Mac was priced about the same as in the U.S.: that’s probably a good enough benchmark, isn’t it? I’m sure there’s a Big Mac-index in somebody’s international economics book.
Related Posts