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"the problem is with degrees" I partly disagree. For kids, defining something using irrational numbers would probably be very confusing. Using integers is mu
by roundsquare 15y ago
"the problem is with degrees"
I partly disagree. For kids, defining something using irrational numbers would probably be very confusing. Using integers is much easier.
So, why 360? Because we talk about right angles a lot and we want to have a third, a half, etc... and (I'm guessing) they wanted it to be a multiple of 10.
I think the point is to be able to teach geometry to kids without worrying about them getting confused by fractions and/or irrational numbers.
- amalcon 15y agoSo just use cycles instead of degrees. Simple fractions or a circle. Fractions are already taught to young children as "how many pieces a circle[1] can be divided into." It would seem to kill two birds with one stone. I think most kids who even study pre-Calc could handle applying a conversion of "2pi" from there. [1] Where circle="cake","pie","pizza",etc.
- roundsquare 15y agoGood point. I forgot we learned about "slices of a pizza" that early. By the way, the history of the degree is somewhat interesting: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degree_(angle) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degree_(angle)