Pokedex Entry #20

[noneed_2worry]

[Dawn's been slaving away at her homework for quite a while now, ruffling her hair in frustration.  Finally, she ends up pushing on the paper too hard and breaking the tip of her pencil.  She tosses the small stack of papers into the air behind her, leaning back in her chair.]

"Ugh!  I don't get this stuff at all!"

[Clearly, this is a job for the

Comments

[human_pretender]

I believe I can help you, child.

Math is a practical knowledge, not a social one. I possess knowledge of Math... **Just not the ability to up and say, "Yeah, I'll help!"**

[noneed_2worry]

Uh... okay.

[human_pretender]

What is the problem you need help with?

[noneed_2worry]

Long division.

[human_pretender]

Yes, I recall, but what are teh factors in the problem.

[noneed_2worry]

...Factors?

[human_pretender]

Perhaps I'm complicating it.

What are the numbers you need to divide.

[noneed_2worry]

"Oh! Um..."

[shuffle shuffle as she picks the papers up from the floor]

"16 and 4."

[human_pretender]

The answer is four.

[noneed_2worry]

Okay, but why?

[human_pretender]

Because it takes four sets of four to reach 16. **Drawing on some Etro memory...**

They want you to show your work... is that it?

[noneed_2worry]

"Four sets of four..."

[pencil scratching]

"Oh! So... if I have four groups of four things each, it's sixteen total. But that's multiplication, isn't it? Ahhhh, this stuff is so hard... And yeah, we're supposed to show our work."

[human_pretender]

That is correct. Division, however, is the same in reverse. You need to make four even groups out of sixteen.

Let me see if I can remember this well enough.

You have four on the outside, and 16 inside the division formula. Beneath your sixteen, write 16 again, and finish writing it as though it were a subtraction problem, with the answer being zero. Above your original sixteen, write a four.

[noneed_2worry]

All right... then what?

[human_pretender]

That would be the end of that problem. And you've shown your work.

**At least, she thinks so. It's not the easiest to tutor the basics over the phone.**

[noneed_2worry]

"Oh... okay."

[stares down at the paper]

"I'll think about it some more and try to do some others that way."