• Question: How do you use maths in your everyday life?

    Asked by Caitlin to Christie, Dan, David, Dawn, Sian on 15 Jun 2016.
    • Photo: Dan Lewis

      Dan Lewis answered on 15 Jun 2016:

      I use maths when I am calculating ratios of chemicals, so they mix together well and are safe, I also use maths when I need to calculate the weight of a dose of an inhaler. This test is to check that the inhaler is giving out the correct dose of drug. I would weigh the inhaler before I release the dose, then I would draw the dose of the inhaler into a metal lung machine using a vacuum, and then reweigh the inhaler. I would make a note of the differences between the two numbers (initial and final weight) and compare the number to other sets of data. This is how I check to make sure the inhalers that we produce are safe and effective to people.

    • Photo: Dawn Lau

      Dawn Lau answered on 15 Jun 2016:

      I use basic math every day. We have to mix up our own solutions from powdered chemicals a lot of the time, so I need to use math to calculate how much powder goes into my solvent to ensure I have the correct concentration. I also use math to analyse the results of my experiment. For example, math is required to figure out whether a drug treatment is changing the state of my cells as compared to a control treatment (like a placebo).

    • Photo: Sian Thomas

      Sian Thomas answered on 15 Jun 2016:

      All the time!

      Today I spent a while working out while the magic number was 42 (no, really).

      I am quite good at percentages – people always use the stats to give a perspective so my first thought is what is the other perspective! But also to see who did not engage (sometimes the % that didn’t anwser is telling).

      Then there are confidence intervals, sample sizes and power calculations.

      Oh and time. I travel a lot with work and use maths to work out the last possible minute to…..

    • Photo: Christie Waddington

      Christie Waddington answered on 20 Jun 2016:

      As a scientist you will have to do maths, there’s no avoiding it! I’m like Dawn in that I work out how to mix chemicals, dilute chemicals, calculate how many cells to add into my experiment, diluting cells to the correct ratio for my experiments. I also do a lot of statistical analysis, as for my graphs I need to show that they are significant, for which we use a p value, student t-tests for example. So all sorts! I don’t use complicated algebra or anything like that, so it can be learnt during your degree if maths isn’t your favourite subject!

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