Examples of Mathematics in Everyday Life

According to some people, maths is just the use of complicated formulas and calculations which won’t be ever applied in real life. But, maths is the universal language which is applied in almost every aspect of life. Yes! You read it right; basic mathematical concepts are followed all the time. You would be amazed to see the emerging of maths from unexpected situations.

Let’s read further to know the real-life situations where maths is applied.

 1.Construction Purpose

You know what, maths is the basis of any construction work. A lot of calculations, preparations of budgets, setting targets, estimating the cost, etc., are all done based on maths. If you don’t believe, ask any contractor or construction worker, and they will explain as to how important maths is for carrying out all the construction work.

Application:

§  Preparing budgets

§  Taking measurements

§  Estimating the cost and profit

§  Arithmetic calculations

§  Geometry

§  Calculus and Statistics

§  Trigonometry

2.Exercising and Training

 

I should reduce some body fat! Will I be able to achieve my dream body ever? How? When? Will I be able to gain muscles? Here, the simple concept that is followed is maths. Yes! based on simple mathematical concepts, we can answer to above-mentioned questions. We set our routine according to our workout schedule, count the number of repetitions while exercising, etc., just based on maths.

 

Application: 

§  Basic Mathematical Operations (additions, subtraction, multiplication, and division)

§  Logical and Analogical Reasoning

3. Interior Designing

 

Interior designing seems to be a fun and interesting career but, do you know the exact reality? A lot of mathematical concepts, calculations, budgets, estimations, targets, etc., are to be followed to excel in this field. Interior designers plan the interiors based on area and volume calculations to calculate and estimate the proper layout of any room or building. Such concepts form an important part of maths.

Application:

§  Geometry

§  Ratios and Percentages

§  Mathematical Operations

§  Calculus and Statistics

4. Fashion Designing

Just like the interior designing, maths is also an essential concept of fashion designing. From taking measurements, estimating the quantity and quality of clothes, choosing the color theme, estimating the cost and profit, to produce cloth according to the needs and tastes of the customers, maths is followed at every stage.

Application:

§  Basic Mathematical Operations

§  Rations and Percentages

§  Geometry

5.Shopping at Grocery Stores and Supermarkets

 

The most obvious place where you would see the application of basic mathematical concepts is your neighborhood grocery store and supermarket. The schemes like ‘Flat 50% off’, ‘Buy one get one free’, etc., are seen on most of the stores. Customers visit the stores, see such schemes, estimate the quantity to be bought, the weight, the price per unit, discount calculations, and finally the total price of the product and buy it. The calculations are done based on basic mathematical concepts. Thus, here also, maths forms an important part of our daily routine.

Application: 

§  Mathematical Operations

§  Ratio and Percentage

§  Algebra

6.Cooking and Baking

           

In your kitchen also, the maths is performed. For cooking or baking anything, a series of steps are followed, telling us how much of the quantity to be used for cooking, the proportion of different ingredients, methods of cooking, the cookware to be used, and many more. Such are based on different mathematical concepts. Indulging children in the kitchen while cooking anything, is a fun way to explain maths as well as basic cooking methods.

Application:

§  Mathematical Algorithm

§  Mathematical Operations

§  Ratios and Proportions

7.Driving

Speed, Time, and Distance’ all these three things are studied in mathematical subjects, which are the basics of driving irrespective of any mode of transportation. Maths helps us to answer the following question;

§  How much should be the speed to cover any particular distance?

§  How much time would be taken?

§  Whether to turn left or right?

§  When to stop the car?

§  When to increase or decrease the speed?

Application:

§  Logical reasoning

§  Numerical Reasoning

§  Mathematical Operations

8.Automobiles Industry

 

The different car manufacturing companies produce cars based on the demands of the customers. Every company has its category of cars ranging from microcars to luxuries SUVs. In such companies, basic mathematical operations are being applied to gain knowledge about the different demands of the customers.

Application:

§  Mathematical Operations

§  Ratios and Proportions

§  Statistics

 

 

 

Top 10 Indian Mathematicians & their inventions

     From making purchases to allocating your monthly pocket money to measuring quantities while cooking, all of us use math in our day-to-day activities even without realizing it. Have you ever wondered how these magical mathematical concepts have arrived & who are the people behind their invention?

                                                                       

                                                                       ARYABHATA

Aryabhata was the first person to say that the Earth is spherical and it revolves around the sun & stated the correct number of days in a year that is 365. He also gave the formula (a + b) ² = a² + b² + 2ab. Further, he worked on the place value system using letters to signify numbers and stating qualities.

 

   BRAHMAGUPTA

Introduction of zero (0) to mathematics, which stood for “nothing”, was the biggest contribution of Brahmagupta. He also explained how to find the cube and cube-root of an integer and gave rules facilitating the computation of squares and square roots.

 

                                                                           

SRINIVASA RAMANUJAN

Srinivasa Ramanujan was one of India’s greatest mathematical geniuses. He made substantial contributions to Hardy-Ramanujan Littlewood circle method in number theory and worked on elliptic functions, continued fractions, partial sums, products of hypergeometric series and infinite series.

 

 

P.C. MAHALANOBIS

Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis’s most significant contribution in the field of statistics was the Mahalanobis Distance. Besides these, he had also made pioneering studies in the field of anthropometry and had founded the Indian Statistical Institute. He also contributed to the design of large scale sample surveys in India.

C.R. RAO

Calyampudi Radhakrishna Rao, popularly known as C. R Rao is a well-known statistician, famous for his “theory of estimation”. His contributions to statistical theory and applications are well known, and many of his results, which bear his name, are included in the curriculum of courses in statistics at bachelor’s and master’s level all over the world.

BHASKARA

Bhaskara, an Indian astronomer, and mathematician helped to disseminate the mathematical work of Aryabhata. He was the one who declared that any number divided by zero is infinity and that the sum of any number and infinity is also infinity. He is also famous for his book “Siddhanta Siromani”.

                                         NARENDRA KARMARKAR 

Karmarkar’s algorithm is an algorithm introduced by Narendra Karmarkar in 1984 for solving linear programming problems. He is also listed as an ISI highly cited researcher.Apart from the above mentioned, there are many other famous Indian mathematicians who contributed to the origin of mathematics. They have made several contributions to mathematics that have significantly influenced scientists and mathematicians in the modern era.

 

Makedo Windball

Makedo Windball is a simple, yet unique geometry project. Basically, all you do is assemble simple cardboards and turn them into a kind of art form. The main idea behind the project is actually quite abstract; it shows that there is no truly perfect sphere in this world. In addition, you can prove that spheres are made out of squares, hexagons, or triangles.

 

 

 

 

 

Both Above: Makedo Giant Windball, Makedo Construction, via make.do

To begin, realize the following statement is true: There is no perfect spherical or circular object in our universe, and there will never be. The planets, raindrops, marbles, coins; none of these are perfectly rounded. You may think that gravity is holding us back from a perfect sphere, affecting the shape of the earth or of a raindrop, but even if there is no gravity, we still wouldn’t have a perfect sphere. This can be proven by you zooming in far enough- you will start seeing the edges of molecules. On Youtube, the user Veritasium explains this in a beautiful way.

A Makedo windball is the best way to grasp this idea. You are taking something that exists in square form and making it into a sphere. In the beginning, you need 32 12-inches squares. When you connect all of them, you will see some gaps in the shape of pentagons and triangles. To make that gap smaller, you will need smaller squares to fill it in. Every time you make your squares smaller, you will get closer to the perfect sphere. But keep this in mind; you can make it as round as you can, but it will still have miniscule holes , and it will not truly be a perfect sphere.

The Makedo Windball project also involves important fields for students such as design, prototyping, recycling, construction, and, of course- fun!

 

 Harmonograph

A harmonograph is a drawing machine powered by the freedom of motion. It draws endless attractive geometric designs and patterns, in other words, harmonograms, using nothing but swinging pendulums, an oscillating pencil or pen, and 3–4 minutes.

Making a harmonograph is one of my favorite projects to do with my students, especially those who are interested in design and engineering. Working on a harmonograph project with students is a fascinating process. It’s a great project to display science & engineering. For instance, while the pendulums are moving and pen/pencil is oscillating, you can see that the energy is transferred between the pen/pencil and the pendulum. 

 

 https://phys.org/news/2020-09-covid-mathematicians.html

 https://phys.org/news/2020-04-mathematical-evolution-covid-.html

 https://phys.org/news/2020-10-statistical-tools-valid-causal-inference.html

 https://phys.org/news/2020-10-meta-analysis-statistical-power.html