How far is A to B? if you go from A to B by 5 steps forward, 7 steps backward, 14 steps forward

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[tomtke]

Forward steps: 5+14 = 19
Backward steps: 7
A to B: 19-7 = 12 B)
Total Steps: 26 D)

[argonwheatbelly]

How far is it from A to B? 12 Steps. How many steps do you take by following the directions? 26. Did this in under 10 seconds in my head. The question is poorly worded. This is why people need to learn their chosen language well.

[StevenTorrey]

First, you ask essentially two different questions: At the beginning of the video, the question is "how many STEPS. When you repost the question @ 2:13 you ask "HOW FAR".... How many steps would be how many steps a person actually took (a pedometer will give the answer). Answering by the number of steps you have indicated, regardless of direction, would 5 + 7 + 14 = 26 steps. HOW FAR asks the question of distance and simply involves adding the numbers with the proper signs: 5 -7 +14 = 12 steps forward in distance.

[onenameleft]

I disagree. You are changing the problem to fit what you’re saying. I know you’re trying to explain your answer but you are injecting that into the question. This is a logic/follow directions problem. Not math. Even at the end you changed the question to how far is it from a to b. The problem asks how many steps and it clearly states to take all those steps to get from a to b.

[eric]

This question raises an Interesting point:
Define "walking backwards".
This presumably means that after walking forwards along the number line, .... in order to walk "back "n" number of steps ".. you would turn round half a circle or ROTATE by 180 degrees ... ( we will define direction rotation as anticlockwise for clarity or convention) to start "walking back.

( Thus - in effect - rotating 180 degrees is equivalent to Multiplying "n" steps taken in a "forward facing direction" by -1, so they subtract, that is: "adding" "-1 * n" to the distance moved along the number line)

That is - continue " walking forwards... ie still facing in the direction of walking but now moving in the negative direction along the number line.

Otherwise - "Walking backwards" would simply mean stepping backwards and not facing the direction of travel, which of course no one normally ever does. We never "think" about walking backwards... but we DO think about "walking back home" - which means we must have "turned round" somewhere to reverse the direction of travel.

( this concept of rotating by 180 degrees in an anticlockwise direction to multiply direction by -1 leads nicely on to:
Making two quarter turns" to complete the full 180 degrees rotation (2 rotations of 90 degrees).... which maps nicely to the concept of imaginary numbers.


That is: it takes two successive turns of 90 degrees to get to 180 degrees, that is:, a multiply by "-1" position - or, put another way:
"something that represents a 90 degree turn" multiplied by itself twice = -1
(the "something" is normally replaced by "i" ( for so called "imaginary numbers") where i ^2 = -1. or i = square root of -1)
And indeed, making four successive 90 degree turns brings you back to where you started - walking along the number line in a positive direction - that is:
i ^4 = +1, or (i^2 ) * (i^2) = -1 * -1 = +1 ( the familiar "-ve times a -ve" = +ve !)

You can now go on to think about what happens after walking along the number line, if you only turn round by "i" ( 90 degrees anticlockwise) instead of "-ve" / 180degrees and...then continue walking . In this case: you are now walking in a "north" direction or "i" direction- that is perpendicular to the normal number line,
As an exercise...
Start at A, , , , walk forward 3 steps, then 4* i steps.... to a new point "B" . ( that is- you've walked 3+4i steps or... (3 steps east and four steps north)
How far is point B from A ? ( hint -

[hexbinoban]

A B rules: + - = -, + + = +
(+5) + (-7 ) + (+14) = -2 + 14 = +12 absolute value |+12| ---> 12 steps ---->ANS :: b

[chipcook]

12 or 26 depending on how it is worded.

[jessemallory]

My interpretation was the number of steps needed to go from a to be and 5 steps forward minus 7 steps back plus 14 steps forward is 12 steps to go directly from A to B

[NMalteC]

I'm sure you can complicate this and make it a math problem. Being fond of logic, I think that it doesn't take many seconds to figure it out

[Hewhowalks-fvmq]

Depends on how people read the question In distance it is 12 steps but it takes you 26

[ResourcefulNomad]

The total steps you take are 26. The cumulative forward steps is 12.

[russelllomando]

got 12 5 - 7 + 14 = 12 easy thanks for the fun.

[kerryeleftheriou]

12 steps, you've gone minus 2 steps from A, then 14 steps gets you to B, so it's 12 steps.

[thomasharding]

If you just go forward, it's 12 steps. But if you are looking for the total steps you need when drunk, then it is 26.

[RRRSSS]

26 steps total taken. A to B steps are s 12 steps.

[emmaedwards]

'How many steps is A to B' is not the same question as 'How far is A to B'.