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Will I ever need math besides for school or work? – Hadassah G., age 9, New Jersey
It can be easy to think that you need math only to do your algebra or geometry homework or if you have a job as an engineer. But, in fact, math pops up everywhere – even in the soap bubbles in your kitchen sink.
While washing dishes when I was 13, I noticed that the soap bubbles formed tiny 3D polygons, packed together like a honeycomb, but not all of these shapes were perfectly round. Why did some of the bubbles look like hexagons? Why were others shaped like squares full of air? Why didn’t I see any star-shaped bubbles, or bubbles with spikes?
Math helps explain the shapes of bubbles and the reason they naturally pack together without any gaps.
Adrienne Bresnahan/Moment via Getty Images
When I learned that math could help answer these questions, I thought that was so cool! Now, as a professor of mathematics who studies how people learn math through play, I understand why bubbles are naturally lazy. I even studied the math behind the reason I saw only some shapes in soapy dishwater.
Besides helping explain the behavior of bubbles and other curiosities of nature, math is likely part of many of your everyday activities, along with the technology you enjoy and even the inner workings of your brain. Doing math isn’t just about computing, memorizing, solving an equation or doing word problems by yourself. It’s really about creative problem-solving and logical thinking with other people.
Math in everyday life
Many topics you learn in elementary school – like fractions, percentages and measurements – are useful in everyday life.
For example, if you want to build a fence around your house, paint your walls a new color or with a design, or sew yourself a new outfit or quilt, all of those activities require knowledge about measurement and scaling. More complicated construction projects, such as building a treehouse, require lots of mathematical problem-solving skills.
Once you’ve laid out the plans for one of these projects, you need to buy all the materials. Percentages – which are special kinds of fractions – are especially important to understand when managing money. Understanding percentages can help you budget your money and increase your net worth.
Beyond budgeting, you might find yourself using percentages when cooking a double batch of brownies, determining how much medicine to take when you’re sick or understanding the weather forecast.
Your favorite technology needs math
Math is an essential tool that animators use to make movies.
Pixar artists use math to make movies like ‘Elemental.’
Studios like Pixar rely on
