Will I be penalised in maths for using comma as decimal place?

I always write 7,5 instead of 7.5 because that's the way I'm used to and it's the way it's taught in Europe.

I'm concerned about potentially losing marks because of that.

What do you think?

P.S. when I write coordinates I write (7;4) instead of (7,4) because for me 7,4 is just seven point four not 7 at x and 4 at y

anyone has this problem as well?

P.P.S. doing IB in the UK

Reply 1

Mechie

15

Probably not, as long as it's clear what you mean.

Reply 2

Bella Occhi

16

They'll probably just think it was a smeared full stop. Just do a small comma.

Reply 3

Chwirkytheappleboy

17

Just out of interest, when saying decimal values, do you say "one point two" or "one comma two"?

Change for the best.

Original post by Chwirkytheappleboy

Just out of interest, when saying decimal values, do you say "one point two" or "one comma two"?

In France they say 'one comma two'... in French of course.

Reply 6

WelshBluebird

16

Personally I would just change to using a dot.
The problem you can get is sometimes a comma is used as a way to make numbers easier to read.
So 7,000 would be seven thousand, not 7 point zero zero zero.
I would probably be obvious in that example, but it could get confusing when you get to larger numbers.

Reply 7

PaperSnowAGhost!

13

If you are doing the IB in the UK why not use the UK system of a dot?

Reply 8

hypocriticaljap

2

I should hope you would be penalised. We do not use commas in the UK in that way.

Reply 9

User570431

15

Just use a dot...not too hard.

Reply 10

FiniteMr

13

It's an international examination, and if you read one of the markschemes (they have a list of guidelines at the beginning) it says to accept ANY international notation. Chances are you will be marked by someone outside the UK or USA in any case, and they will be familiar with the comma notation. Point is, they will not mark you down for it. Their markscheme is so detailed that it is so obvious whether you have got it correct or not - for example, if the answer is 1 point 534, and you write 1,534 - they will not say to themselves "Oh, this person did the correct calculation but got 1 thousand instead of 1 and a bit MARK DOWN RAHH

Reply 11

pink giggle

Yep, I do think it's quite a European thing...I did it when I was younger but have switched since then, I know Germans do it too because this kid who moved to our international school last year was always using commas and it puzzled our science teacher. :tongue:

Since the IB is international, I'd assume they'd be understanding but I don't know...it'd be best to just try and remind yourself to use a dot. :smile:

Reply 12

Nick Longjohnson

16

Probably best to get into the habit of using a point.

I confused the hell out of people in my internship in Europe in the summer. It's best to avoid confusion when putting together helicopters :yep:

Reply 13

in_your_face

OP

Original post by PaperSnowAGhost!

If you are doing the IB in the UK why not use the UK system of a dot?

it's like asking me to start writing 3 instead of 1. I'm not used to it and I automatically put a comma.

Reply 14

in_your_face

OP

Original post by Hypocrism

It's an international examination, and if you read one of the markschemes (they have a list of guidelines at the beginning) it says to accept ANY international notation. Chances are you will be marked by someone outside the UK or USA in any case, and they will be familiar with the comma notation. Point is, they will not mark you down for it. Their markscheme is so detailed that it is so obvious whether you have got it correct or not - for example, if the answer is 1 point 534, and you write 1,534 - they will not say to themselves "Oh, this person did the correct calculation but got 1 thousand instead of 1 and a bit MARK DOWN RAHH

Yes, I suppose so as well. I am working through a past paper now and there is nothing on decimal places in the guidelines of the mark-scheme, though.

Will I be penalised in maths for using comma as decimal place?

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