“Why do we learn math?” is a question almost every student of any age asks during lectures. While adults may get tired of hearing this, it’s a fair question that deserves an answer.
When and where would you ever need to determine a slope or use fractions in everyday life?
Children and teens may not see the benefits of learning math right away. That’s why there are a lot of efforts today to make kids like math. To be fair, some adults might not have still realized why is math important in life.
As some people see math as senseless, this could be why many don’t try to get good at it. However, they’re missing out on the fact that math is all around us.
If you need reasons to work harder on studying math, learn how it can benefit us below.
We Use It in Our Everyday Lives
When people say we use math in our everyday lives, they’re speaking the truth. You may not realize it, but you use it when you’re calculating how many minutes more before the bell rings or figuring out how many pieces of candies your money can buy.
As you grow older, you use math more and more in your daily life. You’ll want to know if taking your car to work is faster than taking the subway. You’ll also use it when counting calories or when calculating how many hours of sleep you can get.
Taxes are especially complicated, but with good math skills, you can lessen the stress of doing it. Even when you’re doing poetry, you’re applying math. It has meters and rhythms, which have a basis on some math calculations.
Art, which some might think to be furthest away from math, also uses it. Its basis is creativity, while math is more on logic. However, don’t you know that art is heavy on geometry?
If you’ve ever heard of the Fibonacci sequence in Victorian paintings, that’s a good example of the application of math in arts. Photographers also rely on math when taking a picture. They calculate things like the shutter speed, focal length, etc.
Math Is the Foundation of Technology
Everyone knows that math and science are siblings. Chemistry, physics, and astronomy, for example, all involve mathematical processes. In the health industry, nurses and doctors also use math in dosages and diagnosis.
That’s why it’s no surprise that math has applications in the technology field as well. Those who want to take this route in college and thereafter will know how important math is.
Math in technological sciences involves a lot of decimal numbers, fractions, and long equations. If you struggle with fractions, you can use our fraction calculator to help you out.
Engineering and computer science students have to use complex equations and algorithms, which they use for creating computer programs, designing structures, building machines, and more.
It Enables Better Financial Habits
In general, people start budgeting by the time they’re in college. They have to make sure their allowances will last until the next one. This means they have to be conscious of how they spend and what they spend on.
Getting a better grasp at math then encourage better spending habits. You apply math when you sit down and calculate how much you can allow yourself to spend each day.
This also allows you to see if a deal is good or not. Will you save by taking that deal or will it end up costing you more?
For example, a buy 1 take 1 deal on food will save you on food expenses. However, the deal is only available on the other end of town. Will the gas or transport expenses worth the money you’ll save by taking advantage of that deal?
Here’s another example of people being impractical because of low mathematical skills. Back in the 1980s, the food chain A&W attempted to compete with the Quarter Pounder of McDonald’s. It released a burger with a 1/3 lb. patty, which cost the same as McDonald’s burger.
This is a pretty good deal when you look at it, but people at that time didn’t see it that way. This promotion failed, but why?
That’s because people thought 1/4 lb. is bigger than 1/3. For them, they’re getting more meat for the same price with the McDonald’s Quarter Pounder. Even if the A&W burger is better-tasting, they’ll still go for what they think is a better deal.
They were right in being frugal and going for the option that gives them the best value. However, they weren’t able to be practical because they didn’t do the math.
Why Do We Learn Math? It Enhances Logical Thinking
When you do the math, you have to identify the problem, determine the right solution, and then apply it to come up with the answer. This process can be long or short. Regardless, the important thing is your training your brain to think in this manner.
As you repeat this process, your brain acclimatizes into this way of thinking. This strengthens your problem-solving skills, which you can then apply to every aspect of your life. We will learn to evaluate first the problem and then draw conclusions based on the given information and previous knowledge.
Learning and practicing math also improves your quantitative skills. You’ll be able to analyze and interpret real-world information based on your basic mathematics skills. This way, you can also spot mistakes
For example, what do you think when you see the results of your surveys and polls? Can you evaluate their messages without doing math? This isn’t possible since surveys use math to produce the results.
In summary, math practices your data analysis, computational, and pattern recognition skills. All these you can apply to solving real-world problems. This can range from something as simple as which pizza will get you the best bang for the buck to a complicated issue like world hunger.
Solve Your Math Problems Today
Now you know the answer to the “why do we learn math” question. This should inspire you to work and study harder.
With that said, there’s no one saying you couldn’t get help when you get stuck in a problem.
Feel free to use any of our calculators to help you understand math better. For more tips on how you can apply math to your daily life, such as calculating your profits and loss in your business, don’t hesitate to check out our other tools.