UoDEdushare

Going into the lecture on supply chains and demand planning I was quite excited as I study economics and thought this would be very relatable to previous work I had done. We started by looking at global food supply chains, this is how raw materials get to the end product and ready for consumption. There are so many mathematical concepts that need considering when transporting goods. Food miles are the amount of miles a food product is transported from producer to consumer, we want to keep this as small as possible as this will increase costs for both producers and consumers. When transporting food we need to also consider the mass, distribution of mass, size, strength, temperature requirements, distance travelled and the time taken. Packaging maximisation is how best to package a product in order to maximise the space given. When packing a container the shape of the product needs to be considered in order to get all the products into a van or shipping container. You also need to think about the weight of the products, if heavy products are put on top of lighter products then these may be destroyed and unable to be sold.

We then looked at demand planning, this is when you predict and forecast what is going to happen with sales of products. In class we got to see how good we would be at demand planning with a simulation game. We first got into pairs and were given £5000 to purchase our goods. There was a list of 15 goods and each quarter we could choose a maximum of 5 of these. After choosing our goods we had to calculate how much we had spent and were then given a percentage of how much of the goods purchased had been sold. We then had to calculate our revenue from this quarter and invest in more products. We did this for four quarters and our total revenue was £57000. The activity involved a lot of calculations and did at times get a bit confusing but I found that I was able to apply a lot of what I had learnt in economics which made the activity easier to understand. Demand planning shows us how maths is used in the wider world. In order to plan effectively you need to have a good understanding of maths as lots of calculations have to be made. Without the maths skills it would be hard to forecast sales of products and incorrect predictions could be made which would cause either a shortage or over supply of a product. This would then in turn be a big problem for producers and consumers.

This was my favourite class of the discovering mathematics module as I was able to relate it to my degree in economics and it is something I find really interesting. Although I found the activity relatively easy I can imagine in real life it would be a lot harder as many other factors have to be taken into account. This class has encouraged me to look more at demand planning and what it involves as it might be something I would enjoy doing later in life.

A numeral system is a writing system used for expressing numbers using digits or symbols. In everyday life we use a base 10 system which is also know as the decimal system and has 10 digits which represents all numbers, these are 0-9.The placing of the number is based on powers of 10. Below is an example of a number in base 10, we can see the different place values of the numbers. we have 6 thousands, 9 hundreds, 4 tens and so forth. It is thought that we use a base 10 system as we have 10 fingers.

We have not always used a base system of 10, other countries and a different generations have used different systems. One system we looked at in class was a base 20 system used by shepherds for counting their sheep. The shepherds would count up to 20 sheep then put a stone in their pocket, they would then count another 20 and put another stone in their pocket and so forth until all sheep were counted.

After the base 10 system the most popular system used is a base 2 system called binary. Binary is used in nearly all modern day computers and uses only 0 and 1 to create all numbers. From the binary table below we can see the place value doubles each time compared to a base 10 system which is multiplied by 10, this is because only 2 digits are used. By adding up the place values of all columns with a one in it you will get your number. For example for the number 6 there is a 1 in place value 4 and 2 this means 4+2 which equals 6.

I found looking at number systems very interesting so decided to do some more research into it and try and find some cool systems. I came across the Oksapmin 27 body part system which was used before 1940 in some mountain regions in Papa New Guinea. They would start at their left thumb and end at their right little finger. When they reached the end they would raise both fists in the air. I have found it interesting to research how number systems vary across different countries and how different systems have developed over time to suit our needs and development.

Whilst writing this post I kept getting interrupted by a friend trying to tell me funny base system jokes. Here are a couple, you can decide for yourself if they’re funny or not.

There are 10 types of people in this world, those who understand binary and those who don’t

Why do mathematicians get Halloween and Christmas confused? Because OCT31= DEC25 

Eather, J. (2014) A Base-10 System [Online] Available at: http://www.amathsdictionaryforkids.com/qr/b/base10system.html (Accessed on 11/11/16)

Oksapmin’s Number System [Online] Available at: http://jimrodslz.org/cultural_math/australia.html (Accessed on 11/11/16)

Maths is everywhere, including in Art. When I started thinking about art I could see some simple links with maths, for example the use of shape, tessellation and size. After my lecture on the topic I realised that there is so much more maths that artists consider in order to make what they believe to be the most aesthetically pleasing piece.

The Fibonacci sequence is a series of numbers where the number is found by adding the two previous numbers together. The first numbers are 0 and 1 so by adding them together you get 1. You would then add 1 and 1 to get 2 etc. The sequence therefore goes 0,1,1,2,3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34 and so forth.

We were asked in our lecture to draw squares using the numbers in the Fibonacci sequence and use a compass to create a spiral like the picture below. This is called the golden spiral. When you pick any rectangle in the picture and divide the length by the width you get around 1.6. No matter which rectangle is used the answer will be the same. For example 13/8= 1.625 and 5/3= 1.67. This 1.6 that we get is known as the golden ratio, many artists believe that this creates the most beautiful and pleasing shape.

The most famous artists that have used the golden ratio in their art work are Leonardo Da Vinci (1451-1519) and Piet Mondrian (1872 – 1944). Mondrian was famous for creating abstract pieces of art using rectangles and only using red, blue and yellow. He believed that all shapes could be created using geometric shapes and these primary colours can create any other colour when combined . When you divide the longest length of the rectangle by the shortest you get the golden ratio.  Below is Leonardo Da Vinci’s painting called The Last Super . The rectangles on the painting show how Da Vinci used the golden ratio in his paintings to arrange how people are positioned around the table and even in the structure of the building they are in . He was very interested in how maths is seen in art and nature and looked looked closely at the golden ratio in the human figure.

Through looking at maths in art I have learnt that a lot more maths is involved than I had ever imagined. The complex maths behind art is something I have never thought about and by exploring this topic have learnt new maths concepts that I may use or come across later in life. Discovering mathematics has helped open my eyes to maths around us and I hope to continue looking at different areas and learning new things.

Fibonacci Sequence (2016) Available at: https://www.mathsisfun.com/numbers/fibonacci-sequence.html (Accessed on 5/11/16)

Parveen, N. Mathematics in Art [Online] Avialable at: http://jwilson.coe.uga.edu/emat6680/parveen/Math_and_Art.htm (Accessed on 5/11/16)

By taking Discovering Mathematics as a module I have began to notice the use of maths in everyday life. I love to bake and never realised just how much maths is used whilst doing so. Maths is used at every step of baking from  weighing out ingredients to setting temperatures. We also need to have a good understanding of fractions, division and ratios in order to bake successfully.

To make the perfect cake timing and temperature are very important, too long or too little time in the oven and it will not be right. Telling the time and having an understanding of temperatures are very important maths skills needed in baking.

Cupcake Recipe (serves 12)

115g caster sugar

115g self raising flour

115g margarine

2 eggs

In baking we may need to use multiplication or division. The recipe above will make 12 cupcakes but what happens when we need to make 6 or 24? In order to make 6 we would need to divide all the ingredients by 2 and to make 24 we would need to multiply them by 2. In baking the ingredients have an important relationship with each
other, this relationship is called a ratio. In the cupcake recipe we use the same amount of sugar, flour and margarine but 2 eggs. The ratio for this would be 1:1:1:2.

I never realised how much maths was involved in baking but looking at it in more detail so many aspects of maths can be seen. In order to bake we need to understand time, temperature, multiplication, division and ratios. Discovering mathematics is making me look at everyday activities in a different way and understand how vital maths is in the wider world beyond teaching.

Alvarez, S. (2014) The Mathematics of Baking. Available at: https://prezi.com/vez180fxjb5f/the-mathematics-of-baking/ (Accessed on: 31st October 2016)

When I was little I was always very confident with maths and rarely struggled at primary school. In High School I was in set 3/7 for GCSE and got an A at the end. When it came to choosing my A levels I thought it would be a good idea to pick maths as it was something I had always been good at. Starting A level maths was a shock, it was so much harder than any maths I had ever done and I quickly lost all confidence in maths. At the beginning of the year I soon felt myself falling behind and got a tutor. This did help a lot but I just could not keep up and after my first year exams realised maths was not for me and dropped it to focus on my other subjects.

At the time I was also doing A level Economics which I really enjoyed, although this involved maths it was no where near as hard. When many people think of economics the first thing they think of is I need to be really good at maths. Although there is maths involved there are many other aspects to economics. I then chose to study Economics at university and started to gain more confidence in maths. One of the reasons for choosing this module was to further build on my confidence in maths and remember how much I enjoyed maths when I was younger.

I chose the Discovering Mathematics module as I enjoy using maths in economics but I have limited knowledge in other areas. By taking this module I hope to expand my knowledge of maths in the wider world. I  hope to gain confidence in maths and think of maths in a more positive light than I previously have.