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In reply to the discussion: Why Would a Math Teacher Punish a Child for Saying 5 x 3 = 15? [View all]sarisataka
(19,455 posts)probably apocryphal, about a student receiving a punishment from a teacher. The assigned punishment was to add all the numbers from 1 to 100. The teacher expected it would take the student some time to individually add all numbers.
However less than one minute later the student handed the teacher a paper with the correct answer of 5050. The teacher was upset but curious how the student added so quickly to get he answer.
The student explained he realized that if he added opposite numbers it equaled 101. (1+100, 2+99, 3+98...) Therefore he could get the answer by multiplication- 50*101= 1+2+3+...+100.
The teacher told the student to go back and add the answer the way he was told.
Supposedly the student in this story was Einstein.
Not saying this student is Einstein, but the teacher is still the teacher.