Is algebra useless?

[PacificGreen 1,163]

When you're in an engineering job or major, saying "Algebra is useless" is like saying "The sun is useless".

[Satsuki Kiryuin 1,154]

Please tell me how one should go about solving computer programming problems, engineering problems, science problems, EVERYTHING problems without algebra.

[KatonRyu 1,026]

When I was in school, I cared nothing for math and wasn't good at it. Like you, I thought it was a useless subject. Now, I think math, including algebra, is important to have at least some skill in. You won't often see it as an actual equation, but situations may arise where you need to calculate something unknown, and that's really just algebra. In many professions, though, you probably won't need it.

[DJW 142]

As someone briefly mentioned earlier in the thread, working out tips and how much a group of items cost is a common use of algebra, even if the process you use doesn't seem like it. The stuff you are taught in school is a generalised form that standardises how all* maths works, from simple addition to more complex stuff, into a single system.

 

While in line at the shop, you will probably hold concepts in your head, rather than an equation; 'The loaf is £1', 'the tin of beans is £0.30', 'the pack of bacon is £2' and 'what is the total to pay?'

 

So in school you'd have:

a = cost of loaf

b = cost of tin of beans

c = cost of pack of bacon

x = total cost

x = a+b+c, a = 1, b = 0.3, c = 2

Solve for x

 

Which is all bleedingly obvious, but it connects simple, real world arithmetic and mental constructs with a formalised system and so makes a bridge between, and thus a greater appreciation of, more complicated mathematics. At least, it hopefully makes you balk a little less when confronted with a process you haven't come across before and/or tell when that multi-pack deal in the shop is actually worth your time or not.

 

Oh, and if you end up in an office, there's a chance you may have to use Excel. Then you'll wish you paid attention in maths.

 

*OK, most of the maths anyone other than a mathematician is likely to deal with.

[Koukatsu 5,898]

It's mostly useless.
I use a lot of Geometry, but not algebra. <_<

And if I worked in any other profession, I really wouldn't need geometry, either.

[Trinitron Keys 89]

I bought an Algebra book and tried to make some... but I think I burned it

[CastletonSnob 3,025]

What if you're not good at algebra because of a brain injury?

[alpinefroggy 451]

Algebra is one of the most useful inventions in math.  Math is a language invented to model science and algebra comes up in science all the time.  In classical physics, you can probably take the entire class with nothing but algebra and it can interesting how much algebra experience you need.  As it is today with me in second semester calculas, I need weird stuff like subsitutions with trig identities, partial fraction decomposition and all kinds of nonsensical algebra techniques to do absolutely gnarly integrals.  Calculas couldnt be done without algebra

[Gooddwarf 22]

You really use algebra without even noticing. Just adding up two numbers is (very basic) algebra. Also, having a decent knowledge of it helps a lot with quick mental calculations (or approximations), so... yes, algebra is very useful. As for calculus and trig... sometimes they come quite useful as well, though not so often. Algebra is literally everywhere

[Sunny Shimmer 259]

Algebra is really useful I've come to find out

[CastletonSnob 3,025]

Do you use algebra when you try to figure out how long it will take to drive somewhere?

[Celtore 2,769]

Knowing my algebra really helped me when I was programming a bunch of libraries for simulating realistic movement on a map. One particularly challenging example was generating NMEA messages for an object moving between two points on a map. Sounds simple right? A quick bit of trig and all is well? Nope! The earth is a sphere. If you travel a straight line on a flattened sphere, your bearing is actually changing with the curvature of the earth.The answer: rearranging a number of scary looking formulas!

 

Of course, not everyone is going to be doing work with figuring out positions on a sphere or calculating the arrival and departure time of trains, planes and automobiles, but at the very least, it can come in handy for figuring out taxes and gratuity really quickly. It's also useful to know if you want to track and gauge your investments for yourself or figure out the interest you're paying on something vs just paying it right off. I'll include a simple little thing I discovered for myself using algebra that's helped me a lot on gratuity and taxes.

 

let tip = 15%

 

pay = tip * price

pay = 1.15 * price

pay = price * (1 + 0.10 + 0.05)

pay = price + (price / 10) + (price / 20)

pay = price + (price / 10) + 1/2(price / 10)

pay/price = (price / 10) + 1/2(price / 10)   <--- there's your HST tax formula. Drop a decimal place and add half of that value.

[Shadow _Destruction 19]

VG_Addict 

 

No i dont i use music

and google maps

and a gps

[Member Berry 1,217]

I actually loved maths in school. I find algebra quite fun, I just see it as a puzzle.

 

I have to admit that I've never used algebra in "real life" 

[Codelyy 1,281]

I use Algebra almost everyday as I have to program the games I'm creating.

 

I don't think Algebra is useless at all and as a lot of people have said, it's used within many jobs and at times very useful. Though I think the main thing it's useful in is of course programming unless you hard code everything.

[CT-1138 3,180]

Unless you're going into a math heavy career like sciences, engineering, or accounting, then yeah it pretty much is. I, in all honesty, have not used algebra since high school and I'm turning 23 tomorrow. 

Edited February 3, 2016 by Dinos4Ever

[cider float 2,535]

If I could still remember how to use the more advanced algebra and calculus I used before I could probably make my life easier. ;_;

[Jest (Inactive) 875]

Well gotta talk from personal experience and all so from my own I have never once had to use algebra since leaving school and I have had quite a few different jobs which have required the person to be decent at maths etc, I can only think it would be useful in a physics related job 

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 40,292]

It's been absolutely useless for me. I have nearly forgotten every bit of Algebra that I learned in High School and haven't thought about it since. Then again I am kind of an idiot when it comes to Algebra but I was pretty sure even then that it would be of little to use to me after school. Lo and behold, no use whatsoever. 

[Scrubbed user 3,415]

2 + x = 4

 

Solve for x.

 

I don't see the point.

Edited February 3, 2016 by Mr Skeltal

[That Guy with the CMB 5,872]

I understand the point about it teaching thinking and problem solving, but...there are other ways to do it rather than giving people equations they don't want and holding them back from life if they fail it one year. Honestly, where are you going to use algebra in itself? Where? Unless you want to be a specific kind of scientist or a mathematician, what's the point? It doesn't teach you how to do taxes, handle mortgage, anything. I feel like algebra ought to be an elective later on. Of course you should learn basic math - you need that. But math beyond what you need in life should be an elective, in my opinion.

[Once In A Blue Moon 894]

If you don't put pen to paper to solve a problem then you probably won't use most of the algebra you were taught. Everyone uses algebra at some level, but the most common stuff along the lines of ' x + 3 = 7 => x = 4 ' is fairly intuitive and comes naturally as part of 'common knowledge' that you pick up here and there. 

 

That said, particularly for people such as myself who hate having to hold information in their head whilst working something out, using a pen and paper to solve a problem is commonplace, so my ability to solve problems is enhanced by my understanding of algebra, making it very useful indeed. And I am a huge fan of the mathematical mindset (and the scientific mindset, which is very similar) which is greatly developed by jumping through abstract hoops.

 

 

If you think algebra and calculus are abstract, you should see university level mathematics. Completely off-the-wall strange and some of the most abstract theory in existence. That I never really got, and thankfully I haven't needed it... yet.

 

 

 

 

but as far as I know, matrices are completely unnecessary in everyday life.

 

 

 

Bridges, people!

 

 

You could build a bridge, although most of us won't be doing that (we need people who can though!) As another example, I remember being shown a matrix that would work out how quickly units would kill each other in the PC game Starcraft II, (1, -dps; 0, 1)  applied to (health; armour) if I recall. The point is, a matrix is an efficient way of expressing a number of operations in a way that computers in particular like. So as computers become more important, matrices become more important.

Edited February 4, 2016 by Once In A Blue Moon

[ThatOneComrade 1,091]

I'm not a math person, but I can see why they teach us algebra. I've actually used it myself outside of school on several occasions, and it made my work far easier than it would've been if I hadn't used it. So no, algebra isn't useless. It just isn't used as often as simple ASMD.

[PiratePony 8,473]

A lot of you probably use it and don't realize that it's algebra, because you're not using X or a real "formula."

 

Plus a big advantage of these math lessons, algebra, is the link in word problems, which is really a method of putting into practice real world problem solving skills. Your ability to manipulate problems is at a higher level than those who maybe didn't pay attention in algebra, even though it's not screaming "look maths!" at you. 

[CT-1138 3,180]

A lot of you probably use it and don't realize that it's algebra, because you're not using X or a real "formula."

 

Plus a big advantage of these math lessons, algebra, is the link in word problems, which is really a method of putting into practice real world problem solving skills. Your ability to manipulate problems is at a higher level than those who maybe didn't pay attention in algebra, even though it's not screaming "look maths!" at you. 

I'm a writer. The extent of my daily math usage is addition and subtraction.