Results: Some people say "Why did we learn all this math in school when we never use it?" Sometimes however, there are times we could use math, but we can't because we didn't learn it.
Published on 01/09/2024
I don't know what they teach in school these days but I remember learning about Archimedes, Pythagoras, Euclid and how their math principles helped build ancient monuments and other worthwhile things. I can't remember who did what but I did learn enough to pass exams then filed that knowledge away never expecting to need it. Then years later I needed to figure some things out and ended up using these principles without realizing I was doing so. Here are some examples.
QUESTIONS
GO to COMMENTS
Comments
1.
1.
I was planning to build a ground level deck and walkways in my back yard and, since lumber is expensive, I wanted to have as little waste as possible. I also wanted to spend as little time as possible sawing wood. I remember looking at standard lumber dimensions and designing an economic order quantity using a mathematical formula where "x" represented the number of lengths of wood of a particular size I would need. I can't remember the formula, just that, by the time I finished, I had no lumber left and no waste. I haven't had a project like this since but I felt good knowing I had this knowledge to draw on. Have you ever used school math to help you with a DIY project. Or wish you had?
I used what I remembered of school math to help with a project around the house. It worked out well. (Details please)
32%
717 votes
I used what I remembered of school math to help with a project around the house. It didn't work out well. (Details please)
8%
171 votes
I wish I had remembered my school math to help with a project around the house. It didn't work out well. (Details please)
6%
135 votes
I wish I had paid more attention in my school math classes
13%
296 votes
Other (please specify)
1%
28 votes
Not Applicable
46%
1017 votes
- Yes
- YES
- Yea I calculate how much i need
| Other Answers | Percentage | Votes |
|---|---|---|
| 1.11% | 15 | |
| I was never very good in math | 0.07% | 1 |
| Math and I don't get along so well, but it covers some basics | 0.07% | 1 |
| I hate math. | 0.07% | 1 |
| I use math in things I do every day. | 0.07% | 1 |
| I use it every day in planning my budget, shopping, and managing my finances. | 0.07% | 1 |
| tok measurements to store and they did it | 0.07% | 1 |
| It wasn't math. | 0.07% | 1 |
| I can't remember. I probably have. | 0.07% | 1 |
| I went on to many years of university studies & have never stopped using math. | 0.07% | 1 |
| basic math | 0.07% | 1 |
| A friend once gave me this piece of advice, "If you can build a box (any size) you can build anything." He was right. | 0.07% | 1 |
| Not a DIY person and the few things I do only need basic arithmetic like multiplication, certainly not anything like finding the mxiimum point of a function or solving a quadratic equation/ | 0.07% | 1 |
| I have never used the math I learned in math 10. 20 or 30 for anything | 0.07% | 1 |
2.
2.
Archimedes went out for lunch one day to the Athens Pizza Palace. There were no real standard diameters for pizzas in those days but the daily special was the 9" Greek Pizza. After a considerable delay the waiter arrived saying there was a problem in the kitchen and presented 2 @ 5" pizzas saying that was just like a 10" pizza and he was giving an extra inch for free. Was this a good deal? What would you have done if you were Archimedes?
2 @ 5" pizzas was a reasonable substitute for the 9" pizza and I would have been happy with that offer.
31%
678 votes
When the 2 @ 5" pizzas were delivered to the table I would have been unhappy because the pizzas looked smaller than I expected. They also looked less than the original 9" pizza but I wasn't sure why.
12%
268 votes
Archimedes immediately asked to speak to the manager and demanded 4 @ 5" pizzas. After explaining why to the manager he agreed this was a fair deal.
22%
489 votes
Other (please specify)
1%
19 votes
Not Applicable
39%
861 votes
- 4 quarters
- BECAUSE OF THE EXTRA EDGING CRUST WAS DOUBLE ON 2 5 INH PIZZAS
- No I don’t
| Other Answers | Percentage | Votes |
|---|---|---|
| 0.62% | 9 | |
| I would be happy because I love the crust the most. | 0.07% | 1 |
| I wouldn't have liked that I got more crust by it being 2 pizzas | 0.07% | 1 |
| I haven't had enough coffee yet to do the math! | 0.07% | 1 |
| yes | 0.07% | 1 |
| I forgot it was radius squared times 3.14. I used the diameter and got it wrong. | 0.07% | 1 |
| I would go by weight not size. | 0.07% | 1 |
| I am sure there was a good reason to ask for 4 @ 5 | 0.07% | 1 |
| unsure | 0.07% | 1 |
| I would've eaten delicious pizzas in a bath tub | 0.07% | 1 |
| I would have not paid for it at all and made them take it back | 0.07% | 1 |
3.
3.
You may be familiar with the Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming. The 1977 movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind used the formation as a plot element and as the location of its climactic scenes. A question was raised about it. It is an 867feet geological formation or an ancient tree stump? If it were the latter, how tall would the tree have been?
It depends on what type of tree it was. If it were a redwood it could be as tall as 5000 feet
18%
390 votes
The average tree stump is cut to 1.5ft from a tree that was once 66 feet (or a ratio of about 2.3% of overall height). The Devils Tower as an oak tree would have been over 38,000 feet tall.
10%
225 votes
The Devils Tower may look like a tree stump but earth's atmosphere could not sustain a tree as tall as this tree would have been - it's a rock.
32%
720 votes
Other (please specify)
1%
24 votes
Not Applicable
43%
955 votes
- I’m not familiar with that
- Sensible answer
- Probably guesses...right.
| Other Answers | Percentage | Votes |
|---|---|---|
| 0.96% | 13 | |
| NO IDEA | 0.15% | 2 |
| In math problems one does not deal with "averages" when individuals can be quite diverse. | 0.07% | 1 |
| It almost looks like the remnants of something geological, ash maybe from a volcano? | 0.07% | 1 |
| I have no idea... | 0.07% | 1 |
| Don’t care! | 0.07% | 1 |
| What?? | 0.07% | 1 |
| Don't have a clue! | 0.07% | 1 |
| I have no clue. | 0.07% | 1 |
| unsure | 0.07% | 1 |
| When the Mexican aliens land their flying saucer on it, It looks like a table for giants | 0.07% | 1 |
4.
4.
If you ever are in the Athens Pizza Palace and have a similar problem with the daily special, remember the math lesson on how to calculate the area of a circle (how much pizza you get for your money). The ratio is πr2 (Pi = 3.134 times the radius of the pizza squared). Do you remember this from your math classes? And can you now use it to get your 4 pizzas like Archimedes did?
Your 9" pizza is almost 64 sq inches whereas a 5 inch one is only 19.6 sq inches
8%
186 votes
2 @ 5 inch pizzas only gives you 39 sq inches.
8%
183 votes
3 @ 5 inch pizzas still only gives you 58 sq inches.
8%
173 votes
4 @ 5 inch pizzas gives you 78 sq inches - worth waiting for.
24%
522 votes
Other (please specify)
1%
33 votes
Not Applicable
57%
1270 votes
- Yes
- don't really understand any of it
- YES VERY MUCH SO
| Other Answers | Percentage | Votes |
|---|---|---|
| 1.64% | 18 | |
| Too tired to do math problems. | 0.09% | 1 |
| I'd rather use charm than explain all that. | 0.09% | 1 |
| I was told there would be no math. | 0.09% | 1 |
| still need coffee to absorb this (and maybe some pizza to go with the coffee) | 0.09% | 1 |
| Don’t really care | 0.09% | 1 |
| Archimedes was a genius, but I don't think using formulas when ordering a pizza. | 0.09% | 1 |
| too much math ;) | 0.09% | 1 |
| Who cares..tmi | 0.09% | 1 |
| Standing corrected from my #2 answer..............Well done. | 0.09% | 1 |
| NOPE | 0.09% | 1 |
| Weight not size | 0.09% | 1 |
| I did not learn this. | 0.09% | 1 |
| Note: Pi is rounded to 3.14, not 3.134 | 0.09% | 1 |
| unsure | 0.09% | 1 |
| King Charles should be giving away free pizzas from Pizza Palace to everyone | 0.09% | 1 |
COMMENTS