We often read those funny quotes from students talking about how unimportant studying math is. When they need to study tons of equations and solve hard problems, they find it hard to see the purpose. What many don’t understand is that studying math is not just about using equations.
The application of math in real life expands beyond using these to solve a problem. Everyone uses mathematics in real life – albeit some more than others. Even if you don’t study science or aren’t a mathematician, those skills you achieve by practicing math can be vital for your success.
Math teaches students critical thinking, and problem-solving not to mention it is the most valuable tool for making calculated decisions, smart investments, and budgeting.
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Why We Need Math in Our Lives
Mathematics is constantly present in our lives. From writing invoices to handling your taxes to budgeting for your business, the list of examples of math in our lives just goes on and on. Depending on the career choice of students, math can play various roles in their future careers and lives.
You will need math whenever you are making an investment decision – or even when you do something as seemingly simple as reading a map or using a GPS. If you study in fields like engineering, finance, and psychics, you’ll need to solve math problems on a daily basis. This is why studying for a degree in this field includes tons of math homework.
It’s not at all uncommon to need some help with it while learning it, but in the future, knowing math is fundamental to making sense of the world we live in – as well as making important decisions.
It is the reason why we study math and are asked to find solutions to problems in this field. You’ll hear many saying – why would I need these equations in my life? While it might seem like your math teachers are giving you the information you won’t need, the reality is – you will need it.
Even if you don’t need those equations precisely, math is teaching you valuable problem-solving skills, and of course, for the use of maths in daily life. Now that you know this, let’s go into detail and speak of some examples of how math is used in life.
Mathematics in Budgeting and Investing
At the end of the month, we all receive bills and have to cover expenses like rent or insurance. We also need to take care of groceries, buy clothes we need, and possibly, if we get some money set aside, even go on a well-deserved vacation.
To enjoy the small luxuries in life, you need to organize your spending. This is why math is a part of everyone’s daily lives. We constantly make plans on how to save some money to cover the essential expenses, but also on how to save for a car, go on a vacation, etc.
When we have some money set aside, we use math to figure out what the best investment opportunity is. We need it to learn if the money we have is enough or if we need to find more money. We use it to calculate the risk of taking a loan or the return on our investment. Basically, we use math daily.
Navigators apply spherical trigonometry to determine longitude and measure time. Sailors calculate the difference between the time at a fixed land position and on their ship to determine longitude. Everyone uses math for geography – and it’s not just the drivers or the pilots or the navigators.
When we take our car to go on a road trip, we use math to calculate how long it will take us to get there. We calculate breaks and stops, controls at the border, and even unexpected troubles that might occur on the way. We calculate the distance between different locations to determine how much money for gas we’ll need, or how much the tickets will cost.
Math in the Workplace
Math is constantly used in workplaces. We all use it to make reports and invoices, calculate our salaries and taxes, and in some careers, it is used to do the actual work. In careers in business, science, and technology, math is used every single day.
One businessman will use math every day to calculate the company’s expenses and earnings or make plans for investments. Others will use it to create a salary or budgeting plan. People in science use it to accurately do experiments and note down the results in detail.
Those in technology use it to create products that work seamlessly and fix the glitches along the way.
Math in the Home
When we say that math is used every single day, that is an understatement. You don’t have to go to the office to need math for reports or work. Most people these days calculate things in their heads every day.
We calculate how many hours we have to sleep when we need to wake up and prepare the kids’ meals for school. We calculate the amount of money we need for groceries, and our budget after we pay those bills.
Mathematics is part of our everyday life. When you set the alarm for the morning, you think about how many hours of sleep you have. When you snooze it, your mind starts making plans on how much time you’ll need to get ready in a rush and still get to work on time.
When it comes to home renovations and other investments, which of course, cost money. We calculate how much each item will cost and decide on where we’ll do our shopping based on the number. There’s hardly anything in our lives that doesn’t require even basic math – so forget about that ‘I won’t need this in my life’.
Wrapping Up
There’s no person in this world that doesn’t need math at some point. Scratch that – most people in this world need it almost every day, and not just for doing their jobs. We need it for everything so all those equations you need to study now – are important, indeed.
