Why You Should Always Bet Big on Algebra
When you were younger and at school, did you ever sit in your math lesson and hear your teacher going on about algebra, then think… Where am I ever going to use this? Well, you’re not the only one, that’s for sure. It’s passed over as dull, useless, and a waste of time. But what you may not realize is that even though the first time you heard the word algebra come from your teacher’s mouth, you were well aware of algebra, and you’d been using it since before you even went to school.
That’s right, the branch of mathematics dealing with symbols and the rules to manipulate those symbols is something you’ve experienced before. For all of those people reading this right now, consider this: From a very young age, you’ve been able to watch a ball heading in your direction and assess where it’s coming from and where it’s going to land so you can try to catch it. By evaluating the force of the throw, the speed and the angle of the throw equal where you think it’s going to land, and you go all-in with your decision to head to the spot to catch it. That’s solving algebra.
Let’s take a look at some more ‘real world’ uses of the mathematical equation, and then you can make your mind up.
Scheduling and planning
Each time we wake up in the morning, algebra is right there in our heads. If you’re heading to work and you know you have a meeting.
You set the alarm clock so you get up, then you go through your routine, getting cleaned up, getting dressed, having breakfast, getting a coffee, and then traveling to work. You’re there for the meeting on time. Similar planning goes into if you’re a store manager and you’re looking at moving to new premises. You need to look at the size of the store, the amount of stock, the amount of time required to move the stock, so calculating the moving date too, etc.
There are lots of little individual sums that come into play to come to the correct solution.
Calculating odds
The odds can determine whether a wager is worth pursuing.
Think about a sportsbook where odds are used all the time. If you’re not using math to make smart betting decisions, then you’re likely to suffer a bad beat. It’s about logical thinking and what we will say is whilst there’s no definite outcome, the odds are swung further in your favor if you use the math.
Another example is at the World Series of Poker, the players in poker use it to calculate poker odds to get to the winning hand. I mean, who would have thought that those guys and gals down at the casino would need to use algebra? It’s all guesswork, right? Nope, the best players in the world have an analytical mind and use it to their advantage.
Cooking
Well, it’s that time of year where we think of turkey for dinner. It’s got to be cooked per its weight, so you have to consider how long it takes to thaw. So how long do we have to wait for the 15lb turkey to thaw if it takes 5 hours per 5lbs? Then how long it takes to cook, to make sure you get it ready for the celebration meal…. Algebra, right?
Cost of fuel
When putting fuel in our cars, everyone considers the gas mileage. Especially when the cost of fuel keeps going up. So, we look to the gas station, think about how far we have to drive and how much money we have, then the amount of fuel our car consumes. Can you get there with the fuel you have, or are you risking running out of gas before that last turn? I wonder how you figured it out? That’s algebra.
