Algebra!

[mamadeb]

Yes, *Algebra*.

One of the customers wanted to know how much she should ask for her house such that, after the agent's fee, she still had $700,000. Agent's fee is 5%.

After the agent struggled with the dreaded *math* for a while, she asked me.

I took out a pen and paper, and came up with this formula.

x-0.05x=700,000

0.95x=700,000

I told the agent, who had a calculator, to do 700,000/0.95 and viola! Approximately 737,000, which rounds nicely to $740,000. Easy. And, yeah, fun.

Because, see, algebra is used in real life and all the time. Why won't people believe that? If there wasn't that block, life would be a lot smoother.

And on another note - the online client seems to know what the date is now.

Comments

[spiderine.livejournal.com]

It isn't the algebra that confounds me. It's the percentages! :)

[ataniell93.livejournal.com]

I desperately needed that formula about a month ago. I'll need it again in five days or so, thanks! :)

[gingicat]

*nod* I recently gave a coworker a lesson in percentages.

See, the base formula is fraction/total = percent/100.

So if you're trying to figure out 15% of $65, you do x/65 = 15/100 and go from there to 100x = 15 * 65 and then solve for x.

Or if you're trying to figure out what percentage 8 is of 45, then 8/45 = x/100, 8x = 4500, solve for x. Et cetera.

[rosehiptea.livejournal.com]

That saved my life in school and has done so many other times since.

[tod-hollykim.livejournal.com]

Well, a short and easy way to get 15% of $65 is that 10% is $6.50 and 5% is half of that or $3.25. So 15% is $9.75.

[destina.livejournal.com]

It's quicker for me to do it in my head, since I can eyeball 10% of anything. 10% of 700K is 70K. Split in half to arrive at a 5% figure and it's $35K. Hence 735K.

Algebra = no. Learning to easily figure 10/15/20% so I can leave tips = yes. Everything is relative. *g*

[azurelunatic]

I love algebra, at least at some times. I was the shining star in my old workplace when I was still in Alaska, because I could adjust recipies to work with the materials on hand (in sizes other than doubling or halving).

This made it so that I was able to make my father the out-of-season seasonal muffins that he liked so much for his birthday.

[magid.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the idea for a nice word problem :-)

(for the percent chapter in an algebra book)

[estherchaya.livejournal.com]

but that only works for nice easy numbers like that. It gets harder with bigger numbers and stranger percentages.

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

I could adjust measurements as measurements - if this recipe calls for one cup of x and I want to make one third of the recipe, I'd need one third cup of x. If I used recipes at all, I mean.

But (forgive me, I don't bake much), isn't it true that some ingredients don't scale up? That is, if you double the flour, you might not need to double the baking soda?

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

Kewl!

[azurelunatic]

Some ingredients probably don't, but I don't bake much either in the microcosm. My work experience was macro-baking -- imagine a mixing bowl the size of a very small hot tub, and a mixer that could have passed for a drill press -- and the mix came pre-mixed, just add water, eggs, oil, and flavorings.