why is math important?

Question

give me as much as can please this is for an essay :)

Answer 1

Math is important because it is everywhere, everyday. All the things around us have shapes, making it geometry. Any day, when you may be shopping, you'll need to use subtraction or addition, or rounding. You use measuring and fractions/decimals for engineering and building, you use the metric system to translate measurements in other countries, etc. Most importantly, if you don't know math, then you don't know science, and many other subjects. You'll find math involved even in writing. And those are only a few examples of why math is important.

Answer 2

Well I'll start with the simplest answer, because we use it every day in just about anything we do. If you spend money, you're using math, simple addition/subtraction to find the total and your change, maybe some multiplication to calculate the tax. Wanna go on a trip thats 365 miles, you get ~21 mpg with a 15 gallon tank, you're gonna have to stop for gas at least twice.

We'll that's not very complex math, maybe you don't consider stuff like that real math, well then how about something a little more complex. The intrest on a loan is calculated as a function intrest and time. How about optimization, wanna find the most efficient shape of a box? Use a system of equations, the surface area and volume. Modeling, simple algebraic functions can be used to simulate real world situations and predict the trend out into the future.

Not bad, everybody takes algebra right? Then you have trig, now that's good math. Who knew a right triangle could be so useful, what survayer would be without his... errr triangle aparatus thingy. The point is, nobody wants to climb a 25 story building and drop a tape measure down the side, instead they take a few measurements from the ground and they have their answer in a second.

Those silly triangles seem to show up and make themselves useful all over the place, a list from wikipedia, acoustics, architecture, astronomy (and hence navigation, on the oceans, in aircraft, and in space; in this connection, see great circle distance), biology, cartography, chemistry, civil engineering, computer graphics, geophysics, crystallography, economics (in particular in analysis of financial markets), electrical engineering, electronics, land surveying and geodesy, many physical sciences, mechanical engineering, machining, medical imaging (CAT scans and ultrasound), meteorology, music theory, number theory (and hence cryptography), oceanography, optics, pharmacology, phonetics, probability theory, psychology, seismology, statistics, and visual perception.

The next level of math would be calculus, or statistics. I'll start with calculus, or the math of change. Calculus is a big part of newtonian physics, that's why calculus is a prerequisite for Physics C. Say you were able to come up with an equation for the position of an object as a function of time, using regression. Take the derivite of that and you get a function that describes its velocity with respect to time. Take the derivitive again and you get a function that describes it's acceleration. Force, work, and power can all be related with derivitives and integrals. If you want to do any kind of phsyics, your going to need a extensive knowlege of math all the way from algebra, to trig, calculus, and maybe more.

Then you have statistics, the math of modeling the real world. Whenever somebody does a serious experiment, all the data they gather is subjected to all kinds of crazy statistical analysises. t-tests, linear regression, analysis of variance (ANOVA), probability, percent error, and confidence level. If you want your work to be taken serious as a researcher you will need to be able to prove statisticly that your information is meaningfull.

That's all I can think of for now...

Answer 3

Ever seen the commercial of the guy that's drinking glasses of milk on a conveyor belt (and doesn't look very happy about it), and as the camera pans out, you see a sign that says "milk taster", and the words " Got Math? " appear on the screen?
The funny thing is that most people that would be "official tasters" in modern processing plants probably DO have a good understanding of math, yet it does illustrate what they want to get you to understand- Good jobs require math skills.
Even if you were to come into a large sum of money and never have to work, you still need to know basic math and finances to not blow through your money, or be taken advantage of.
Everyday things from adjusting the measurements in a recipe, to balancing your checkbook requires math skills- and math skills are the basis for data points in scientific studies, algorithms that make computer processing possible, and countless other applications.

Answer 4

I find mathematics astonishing because it corresponds so closely to external reality, despite the fact that it's the most pure construction of the human intellect in all of history. Somehow, we have invented a language and set of rules that, without known exception, can describe any phenomenon in the outside universe! Thus, it provides a bridge to allow intellectual analysis of reality, and the importance of this cannot be understated; all of our modern society depends on mathematics.

Answer 5

Check Wikipedia

Answer 6

Because it can be used to describe, model, and predict physical processes. And also see the Wiki article referenced by emin1em.

HTH

Doug

Answer 7

MATH is an acronym for:
Makes All Things Happen.

In other words, without it, you're doomed.