Comments on: False Advertising, and bad math http://www.muttrox.com/index.php/2006/02/false-advertising-and-bad-math/ Critical Thinking Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:55:25 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: Michael Weinmayr http://www.muttrox.com/index.php/2006/02/false-advertising-and-bad-math/comment-page-1/#comment-746 Michael Weinmayr Mon, 13 Feb 2006 20:11:31 +0000 http://www.muttrox.com/2006/02/12/false-advertising-and-bad-math/#comment-746 Just because all pasta combinations are possible doesn't mean they should be allowed. For instance, take a nice chunky bolognese, then put it over angel hair pasta: instant culinary disaster, especially after you add all of your three vegetables and meats to it. Just because all pasta combinations are possible doesn’t mean they should be allowed. For instance, take a nice chunky bolognese, then put it over angel hair pasta: instant culinary disaster, especially after you add all of your three vegetables and meats to it.

]]> By: Muttrox http://www.muttrox.com/index.php/2006/02/false-advertising-and-bad-math/comment-page-1/#comment-744 Muttrox Sun, 12 Feb 2006 14:33:29 +0000 http://www.muttrox.com/2006/02/12/false-advertising-and-bad-math/#comment-744 Consarn it! Perhaps you can also ask for double mushrooms or something like that. In that case, you would say you have 3 independent choices, each from a group of 11 (10 vegetables, or nothing). However, you would need to divide by 6, to show that mushroom-mushroom-pepper is the same as pepper-mushroom-mushroom. So it's 11*11*11/6 = 222. That's simplistic, but ballpark correct. We're at 159,840 possible pasta choices, but I'm no longer pretending that's exact. Clearly, I will need to return, ask some poor waitress for all the rules and assumptions about what can be ordered, and then steal a menu. Consarn it! Perhaps you can also ask for double mushrooms or something like that. In that case, you would say you have 3 independent choices, each from a group of 11 (10 vegetables, or nothing). However, you would need to divide by 6, to show that mushroom-mushroom-pepper is the same as pepper-mushroom-mushroom. So it’s 11*11*11/6 = 222. That’s simplistic, but ballpark correct. We’re at 159,840 possible pasta choices, but I’m no longer pretending that’s exact.

Clearly, I will need to return, ask some poor waitress for all the rules and assumptions about what can be ordered, and then steal a menu.

]]> By: Muttrox http://www.muttrox.com/index.php/2006/02/false-advertising-and-bad-math/comment-page-1/#comment-742 Muttrox Sun, 12 Feb 2006 14:06:11 +0000 http://www.muttrox.com/2006/02/12/false-advertising-and-bad-math/#comment-742 I realized after posting this that my math was off for Romano's. For the vegetables, it is not 120. The 120 was deduced by calculating the number of ways to choose three out of a universe of 10. (10!/7!*3!)=(10*9*8/6)=(720/6)=120. However, I neglected that you do not have to get exactly three vegetables. You can get none, one, two, or three. There are several ways to calculate the right answer, and the answer works out to 176. Amazingly, <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&q=10+choose+3+plus+10+choose+2+plus+10+choose+1+plus+10+choose+0&btnG=Search" rel="nofollow">Google can do this for you.</a> However, I like the coincidence of the datetime converter, and since I'm not sure any of my other numbers are right, I'm leaving as is for now. I realized after posting this that my math was off for Romano’s. For the vegetables, it is not 120. The 120 was deduced by calculating the number of ways to choose three out of a universe of 10. (10!/7!*3!)=(10*9*8/6)=(720/6)=120. However, I neglected that you do not have to get exactly three vegetables. You can get none, one, two, or three. There are several ways to calculate the right answer, and the answer works out to 176. Amazingly, Google can do this for you.

However, I like the coincidence of the datetime converter, and since I’m not sure any of my other numbers are right, I’m leaving as is for now.

]]>