What
use is maths in everyday life?
What do going out for dinner, choosing a shampoo, or planning a
holiday all have in common? You’ve guessed it: maths. Numerical and logical
thinking play a part in each of these everyday activities, and in many others.
A good understanding of maths is essential for making sense of all the numbers
and problems life throws at us.
Maths
on the menu
It’s your birthday and you’ve decided to go out for a meal with
some friends. While you won’t be having fried formulas or a side-order of
statistics, maths is involved at every stage.
Looking down at the menu, you eye up the prices. The restaurant
owner has worked out how much she needs to charge for her food by creating a
business model detailing the cost of raw ingredients, staff wages and so on.
She also has to calculate how these costs might change in the future and how
many customers she expects. Many restaurants fail within their first year
because of poor mathematical planning.
Thankfully this one is still open for business, so you place
your order and the chef gets to work. You’d better hope he has a good grasp of
maths, because understanding measurement, ratio, and proportion can be the
difference between something delicious and something that ends up in the
dustbin.
Turns out you’re in luck, and the food is excellent. You just
about make room for dessert and it’s time to split the bill. Who had the pizza?
Did you have one drink, or two? Did the waiter add everything up correctly?
Being able to perform quick mental calculations will get it sorted in no time –
and percentages help with leaving a tip!
Shampoo
statistics
Washing your hair isn’t exactly rocket science, but with so many
brands of shampoo out there it can be difficult to decide which to use. You
probably just pick one and stick to it, but advertisers often use statistics to
get you to switch brands.
A typical advertising claim might be ‘80 per cent of people
prefer our shampoo to their old one’ – but what does that actually mean? In
what way did they prefer it? What about those who didn’t like it? Without
knowing how many people were surveyed and what they were asked, this claim
doesn’t really say much. When it comes to statistics, the questions are just as
important as the answers.
Still, maybe the adverts worked and you decide to buy some new
shampoo. You can get a 250 ml bottle for £2, or a 400 ml bottle for £3.50, but
which is better value? Just as with settling the restaurant bill, mental maths
is incredibly helpful for getting a good deal.
Sums in the sun
Even when you’re looking to spend some time in the sun maths is
all around you, because planning a holiday is all about optimisation. Deciding
where to visit is just the first of a whole bunch of questions. When’s the best
time of year to go? How do I get to the airport on time? Can I fit all these
clothes in my suitcase? Answering these questions involves working with numbers
– hotel prices, flight timetables, suitcase volumes – to come up with the best
results.
Once you get there, maths still comes in handy. Maths and
numbers are universal, so even if you don’t speak the language you can
understand prices and times, and mentally converting currencies lets you check
whether you’re spending £1 or £10. That certainly helps when you’re picking out
souvenirs.
Using
maths every day
It’s almost impossible to get through a day without using maths
in some way, because our world is full of numbers to handle and problems to
solve. Studying maths provides you with the tools to make sense of it all,
making life that little bit easier.
Good
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