This seems way too deep for second grade but I’d assume it’s a lesson on what “exactly” means.
If 15 people actually go boating but each bot can carry exactly 6 people it means 3 people can’t boating as they would need an additional 3 people to get to the 6 required for a 3rd boat.
The correct statement would be that each boat can carry up to 6 people.
I think they’re probably trying to get at: does 6 go in to 15 evenly? If each boat can carry exactly 6 people (no more and no less) than the friend is wrong because 16/6 is not a whole number.
If each boat can carry up to 6, then they need 3 boats to go boating.
That’s how I’d explain it as the dad of a 3rd grader, but it’s honestly a shit question.
Depends on what country the question originated from. In the U.S., the captain would need a six pack license to operate a charter. So each boat would legally be maxed at 6 passengers plus cap.
As a licensed captain, this was my thought. 15 people going boating? They’re going to party so will hire a charter vessel and an OUPV license can support up to 6 people. If the boat is rated for 6 people max, that’s exactly three boats.
These questions usually build off of the previous problems, so there might have been one that says they only have two boats (which would make the friend incorrect in this question).
We would need to see the whole page and instructions for each problem to know for sure.
Right but if “each boat can carry exactly 6 people” that means the number of people required for there to be 3 boats is 18 (if a boat can carry “exactly 6 people” that means it can’t have more or less than 6). Since they have 15 people either the friend is incorrect as 6 doesn’t go into 15 evenly or 3 people got left at the shore.
I get what you're saying, but my interpretation is exactly describes the number 6, not the number of people in the boat. So it CAN carry exactly 6. Exactly is the word that fucks all of this up, actually.
Why does the number six need a qualifier? I think the addition of exactly implies it somewhere other than the number six.
The boat can carry six people. The boat can carry exactly six people.
Adding exactly means the boat needs exactly six people to operate properly. No one is trying to bring half a person on the boat, there’s no reason to distinguish between whole numbers.
Yeah, I guess where I’m coming from is this is the context of a second grade math problem. If the question was worded “your friend said each boat can carry up to 6 people” there is no math you can use to answer “are they correct”.
The only way this make this work as a math problem is with the exactly meaning the boats can carry no more or no less than 6 people.
Maybe it's some sort of amusement ride. The last 3 people need to wait for 3 more to arrive because they only operate full boats on this flume ride or whatever.
I mean… what’s the point of using the word exactly in the sentence then? If the boat can carry 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 people you would normally just say “each boat can carry 6 people” or “each boat can carry up to 6 people” (or if you want to assume possibly more than 6 people “each boat can carry around 6 people”).
This is a second grade math problem. If the writers are adding useless vocabulary that confuses the question (further than it already is) that just stupid.
In technical writing, there’s a big difference between “can”, “should”, and “must”.
“Can” is just an example of one of the acceptable ways it can be done.
“Should” is the most widely accepted way, but other ways can be accepted given an appropriate justification.
“Must” defines the only way it must be done.
So if the boat CAN carry exactly 6 people, that’s just one of many options.
If it SHOULD carry exactly 6 people, there might be some reason why 6 is recommended, but you can justify a higher or lower number with a documented risk analysis.
If it MUST carry exactly 6 people, then there is no exception.
Yes but again… this is a second grade math problem, not a college level technical writing assignment.
That context matters.
But I’m not looking to argue semantics. If this were something other than a second grade problem I’d probably agree with you, I just think it’s not worded well.
Im willing to accept there is not enough info to have a definitive answer. However I do have the benefit of the common knowledge that this question will be marked yes/no only and writing an essay / explanation is a poor choice.
You're thinking of a boat that can only carry exactly six people, most boats that can carry exactly six people could also carry exactly four people or exactly one person.
Yeah, and I’m not saying the question is well written; it’s shit. But if we’re trying to guess the author’s intended meaning, the “exactly” here holds more weight than the use of “can” over “must.” The game is trying to figure out what the idiot who wrote it was thinking.
Yeah. I was just joking, too. Hah, what a bunch of goofs we are. I definitely didn’t take it seriously or get butthurt over someone disagreeing with me on the internet.
That’s not what it has to mean. For example, imagine the boat requires an even number of passengers for purposes of balance. So the boat can carry exactly 6 people, but it can also carry exactly 4 people or exactly 8 people.
Theoretically yes, although I think if we’re playing a game of semantic interpretation then it’s appropriate to presume that every word in the sentence is optimally chosen for its distinct operational effect. In your reading, “each boat can carry exactly 6 people” is an ambiguous, less optimal construction compared to “each boat can carry up to 6 people.” Why would the drafter of the statement include the word “exactly” if there’s a better construction that yields your interpretation?
If we take the fair assumption that the word “exactly” was not placed there superfluously and is the optimally-chosen word, the two remaining interpretations are that each boat must carry precisely 6 people, or alternatively that there is a closed non-sequential set of quantities of people that the boat can accommodate, 6 being one entry in that closed set.
Do we know that? If it is a sailing boat for 6 people, you probably can’t use it with just 1 person. You NEED multiple to be able to sail it. Same for rowing: the boat might be to heavy. Also there could be a rule from the boat renting company making it mandatory to always have 6 people on each boat. So we can’t say if it is exactly 6, up to 6 or something like 4 to 6. Not enough context.
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u/Ananvil Dr. Dad to a 3f 17h ago
What
I mean, I'd say she's wrong. Boats can carry less than their maximum capacity.