Follow-up: multiples and fractions of 7

Earlier I wrote about remembering fractions of 6 due to influence of cricket. In the footnotes there, I mentioned also being good with number 7.

I remembered why I (subconsciously) know so many multiples and fractions of 7. It’s got to do with all those physics problems in high school.

Gravitational acceleration (g) near earth is 9.8m/s2. This can also be written as 7*7*2/10.
2 and 10 are easy to manoeuvre. 7 required me to calculate the fractions and multiples.

Since there were a lot of questions with g involved, I subconsciously memorised the frequent multiples and fractions. Now, decades later, I still (subconsciously) remember a fair number of them without having to bother with the calculation.

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My cricket legacy—fractions of 6th

Growing up in India, cricket was one of the central parts of life. I am also curious, and a tad numerically inclined. So, my favourite pass-time while watching cricket while growing up was calculating run rates, required run rates and other similar fractions while watching a match on TV. This was before the live statistics on TV really kicked off.

An over in cricket is 6 balls. Calculating those averages every 6th ball ensured that I became really good at knowing the various fractions of 6—⅙ to ⅚—in decimal, and at quickly manipulating them within themselves and with other non-3-x numbers.

I don’t really follow cricket anymore. But some of this skill has stayed with me even all these years later :)

Continue reading My cricket legacy—fractions of 6th