Center for Math Excellence

In truth, you already have math skills you use every day — you just don’t realize it.  For example, you use math:

1. When cooking
   • Whether you are trying out a new marinade for grilling, whipping up a healthy smoothie or making a double batch of chocolate chip cookies for a party, you are no doubt measuring ingredients; multiplying amounts, and deciding when to start cooking to have food ready on time.
2. When shopping
   • Would it be cheaper per ounce to buy the giant bag of potato chips or two smaller bags? Which brand of cereal has the least sugar per serving? If your new athletic shoes cost $46.79, what amount should you give the cashier to get back the fewest coins?
3. In sports and games
   • Whether you are gathering for a game of Monopoly or Scrabble, challenging your friend to a game of pool or playing a pickup game of basketball, you are stretching your mathematical muscles. Besides your calculations of scoring, that long shot on the court or table intuitively requires you to use concepts such as trajectory and force.
4. In restaurants
   • Eating out is full of math: how much to tip your server for a $14.98 pizza and how to divide the check among three people.
5. When decorating
   • You want to change from your bold red to a gray and white look. You determine what size rug you’ll need, how much paint to buy for an 20-by-12-foot room and how to evenly space the framed artwork on the walls. That’s a lot of math!