What is the point of algebra??????

Question

When are you ever going to need it like!!!!!!!

ok fair enough it might be used in big coorporations and stuff......but whats the likelyhood of me becoming someone doing that................................................... and if i was in a big coorporation what are the chances id be the one doing that!



anyway, i want to be a binman

Answer 1

It is the little black spot that separates whole numbers from the fractions. ;-)

Did I mention I LOVE bin men?

Answer 2

As a college professor who teaches business math, among other subjects, I can tell you that my students are in every program. I've got accounting, travel and tourism, culinary, and even IT students in my classes. Why? Because algebra and other math concepts ARE used out there, even on low levels like Admin Assistants.

Perfect example, you're assisting with the budget forecast and the boss wants you to assume things increase 20%. And you have to do this on a spreadsheet using Microsoft Excel. There's NO built-in fuction to do this, so you have to setup your own formula to do it.

You'd need an unknown variable to represent the new forecast figure, plus a variable to represent each item's current value.

My Excel formula might be something like $Bdgt = $now * 0.2. FYI, the * means times or multiply, and in the realworld, we can use variables beyond a single letter.

Answer 3

Many problems in life can be made easier with algebra.

Suppose I want to sell something on ebay and I want to set the price at 25% plus ten dollars more than I paid for it. That's an algebra problem.

If you are in school, your teachers are trying to prepare you for perhaps the next 75 years of your life. Who knows what will be important to you in five years, or twenty five years, and so on?
Your teachers are betting that algebra, which has been around for thousands of years, might be more useful to you over your lifetime than say, rap music.

Answer 4

I thought the same thing when I was studying Algebra as a freshman in high school... and I was completely wrong. I have used Algebra often to compute projections for profit based on different sales options etc. It really is worth knowing.

I thought the same thing about Calculus as well... I guess I was right there though.

Answer 5

Have you ever written a computer program? You would have a hard time writing programs without using the principles learned in algebra. There would be no variables, everything would have to be "hard coded".

The same principle applies to spreadsheets; if you work in a job where you use spreadsheets you will benefit greatly from knowing algebra.

The problems you solve won't be presented in the form of algebraic exercises, but you will need to understand the same principles in order to solve them.

Answer 6

Algebra teaches you techniques to find unknown values using values you do know. In some jobs it is part of your duty to use the algebra that you learned in school. Some people may not ever have a job where it is used frequently, but it is still an necessary part of a good education.

Answer 7

Not really sure of any value to algebra.
Of all the math classes I ever took, algebra was the least logical. and I was told it would teach me logic and how to think.
Glad I just passed, 'cause I like the way I reason and think without the algebra, and have been pretty successful

Answer 8

You might need it in careers like aerospace and almost any other type of engineering or science. You will definitely need it if you ever decide to teach middle or high school math in your lifetime.

As for "needing it" right now, it's one more hoop you have to jump through to get to your ultimate goal, which I assume is "graduation", whichever level of schooling you're in now. Hang in there, you'll get through it. You just have to show your teachers you have some grasp of its concepts, enough so that they'll be satisfied with you. And you'll find out algebra's one of many "games" you'll have to play in life to get what you want.

Answer 9

I understand where you're coming from, and I couldn't get my head round it for years, especially as I couldn't see how I'd ever need to use it, but it's come in handy any number of times and I'm really glad I finally got it! Just persevere with it, I guarantee it will be useful one day, even if it's just to win a pub quiz!

Answer 10

I use algebra more than calculus in Aerospace. The applications are needed in cooking and any place where you need to plan a budget where you are basing it on several possible outcomes. You are going to need it in medicine and if you have anything to do in the computer industry.
If you don't have it and your competition does, they will have an edge on you that will run you in to the ground in the long run.

Answer 11

It is the basis from which logical reasoning is born. Big time corporations use algebra to make projections for how to make money. You can use it to predict profit and loss. Any math field uses it. Trust me, it's all over the place.