953: 1 to 10
| 1 to 10 |
 Title text: If you get an 11/100 on a CS test, but you claim it should be counted as a 'C', they'll probably decide you deserve the upgrade. |
[edit] Explanation
Binary refers to a counting system in base-2, which uses only the digits 0 and 1, as opposed to the more familiar base-10 decimal system, which uses the digits 0 through 9. In this case, the scale of 1 to 10 is using binary, so in decimal it would be a scale of 1 to 2. Since 4 in binary is "100" (one-zero-zero) the joke is that it is 100% likely that the question is binary -- or it could simply be 4 of 10 - which mean that the question have evolved into recursive ambiguity
The title text uses a similar joke. Since test scores are usually written as either a letter grade or a percentage, 11 correct questions out of 100 would be a failing score in decimal notation. However, 11/100 in binary translates to 3/4 in decimal, which would be 75%, accepted in most classes as a 'C' grade.
[edit] Transcript
- Megan: On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely is it that this question is using Binary?
- Cueball: ...4?
- Megan: What's a 4?
add a comment!Discussion
(|x| is absolute value of x, sgn(x) is 1 when x > 0, 0 when x = 0, and -1 when x < 0)
If 10 = 1 + 1, then P = 10 - |sgn(0)| = 10 - |0| = 10
If 10 > 1 + 1, then P = 1 + 1 - |sgn(10 - 1 - 1)| = 1 + 1 - |1| = 1
If 10 < 1 + 1, then P = 1 + 1 - |sgn(10 - 1 - 1)| = 1 + 1 - |-1| = 1
So P is 10 iif the question was is in binary, and 1 iif it was not in binary.
93.73.186.104 16:26, 6 February 2013 (UTC)