How Math Affects Our Lives

How Math Affects Our Lives

DeAndrea McHardy

Math 090

March 9, 2011

Professor Kiandra Johnson

How Math Affects our Lives

Math has never been my favorite subject. Just the thought of having to take a college math class gives me overwhelming anxiety. Previously, I believed Algebra and other higher level math classes were only important to people in the fields of accounting, engineering or science; however, through experience, I have come to realize the importance of using Algebra in some of my favorite activities like: cooking, decorating and shopping. As much as math makes me anxious, I know it is important to learn because it can be applied to all aspects of my life. Cooking is one of my favorite activities where the mathematics involved often goes unnoticed. However, there is a sizeable amount of math skill incorporated in cooking and baking. Most recipes are written in measurable units such as: teaspoon, tablespoons and cups. Recipes usually give guidelines for making a single batch, but what if you want to increase the recipe for a party. Suppose your favorite cookies have a recipe will produce a dozen cookies and you want to make three dozen for the party. Since three dozen is three times more than 1 dozen, multiply all the ingredients by three to make a larger batch. For example, if the cookie recipe requires a ¾ cup of milk, to triple the recipe you will need 2 and ¼ cups of milk to make three dozen cookies. What if you need to decrease a large recipe to accommodate a small group? Let’s say the cookie recipe will yield 6 dozen cookies and you only want 2 dozen. Find the relationship between 2 and 6. Since 2 x 3 = 6, 2 dozen is 1/3 of 6 dozen. So to make 2 dozen cookies use 1/3 of each ingredient.

Another of my favorite pastimes where math skills are essential is home decorating. The most important math skill to have when decorating it budgeting, once the budget is set,

then To design a space well math is used to determine area, proportion and...