Business Math #3

MM255 Business Math and Statistical Measures

Unit 1: Instructor Graded Assignment

Basic Math

In this class, you will complete an Instructor Graded Assignment in Units 1-8. These Assignments give you a chance to apply the skills you have learned in the unit so far. You will have a chance to solve problems using a combination of math and internet searching.

This unit you will focus on how to find things on the internet that will be relevant to the class in the future. You must post all links you find in your document, as well as the date you find those links. In the event your link is dead when the teacher grades it, you may be asked to provide a new link, so prepare some backup links, just in case.

Note: For questions 1 - 7 you need to cite a reliable source, which means you cannot use sites like Wikipedia, Ask.com®, and Yahoo® answers. If you do use those sites the instructor may award 0 points for your response.

The Assignment problems must have the work shown at all times. The steps for solving the problems must be explained. Failure to do so could result in your submission being given a 0. If you have any questions about how much work to show, please contact your instructor.

Assignments must be submitted as a Microsoft Word® document and uploaded to the Dropbox for Unit 1. Type all answers directly in this Assignment below the question it applies to.

All Assignments are due by Tuesday at 11:59 PM ET of the assigned Unit.

Basic Internet Searching (6 questions, 5 points each)

1. Using the internet, find a link that will tell you the average price of a gallon of gas for a given time period.

I found this site http://www.gasbuddy.com/gb_retail_price_chart.aspx?time=24 It has links to enter prices.

2. Using the internet, find a website that will show you houses for sale.

I use this site all the time to search properties

http://www.redfin.com/

3. Find a website that shows one how to do fraction to decimal conversions.

This is a nice website for that http://www.webmath.com/fract2dec.html

4. Using the internet, find a website that one can use to find the national average cost of food for an individual, as well as for a family of 4 for a given month.

Here is the government site for that http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-%26-Self-Employed/National-Standards:-Food,-Clothing-and-Other-Items

5. Find a website for your local city government.

http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en.html This is my city website

6. Find the website for your favorite sports team (state what that team is as well by the link).

The Chicago Bears are my favorite team http://www.chicagobears.com/index.html

Essay Response (15 points)

7. Now that you have had some practice finding websites (some relevant, some fun), it is time for something more serious. Using the internet, find a real world example where fractions were used to solve a problem. In your essay, explain what the real world problem is, what the fractions mean in the problem and explain how the problem was solved. In addition, be sure to explain what the solution is to the problem as well.

Requirements for the essay

· Write your essay in this document – do not save it in a separate file.

· You must clearly state your position with well-structured paragraphs using proper grammar, spelling, and sentence structure.

· This is not an “opinion” question – you must offer evidence to support your position, using properly cited sources.

· Your answer must be between ¾- 1 page in length.

· You must cite and reference at least one source (book, website, periodical) using APA format. The required website counts as one source.

You may submit your Assignments to the Math Center for review. Tutors will not grade or correct the Assignment, but they will provide guidance for improvement. Tutors will not, however, help you find web sites for the Assignment.

Be sure to submit Assignments early enough to receive feedback and make corrections before the Assignment due date (24 hour turn-around times Monday-Thursday and 48 hour turn-around times on weekends are typical).

Email Assignments to: [email protected]. Please put “MM255 Assignment Review” in the subject line of the message.

Application of Fractions

Chefs find a hard time preparing recipes. In certain instances, chefs need to prepare less or more of a food than usual. The knowledge of addition, division or multiplication of fractions can come in handy in preparing recipes (Barker, Aufmann, & Lockwood, 2009). In most food recipes, ingredients are usually in fractions, like ¼ tablespoon of salt and ½ glass of water. So understanding of how fractions work is critical for chefs. Failure to measure ingredients correctly means that a particular food will not have the right taste. For chefs doing business, this may mean loss of customers. One important application of fractions is doubling recipes. For instance, a chef may want to double four dozen cookies to eight dozen cookies. Doubling requires knowledge of fractions.

Methodology

To double this recipe, six different fractions need to be added to determine how much oats, baking powder, butter, vanilla, sugar and water have to be slotted in. The ingredients are: ¼ cup of water, 1 egg, 2.75 oats cups, ¾ cup of butter, 1.5 teaspoons of vanilla, ½ teaspoon of baking powder, 1 cup of brown sugar, 1 cup of flour, 1 teaspoon of salt and ½ cup of sugar. For butter, we have

Simplifying gives

For the rest, we have

¼ cup of water cup of water

1½ tablespoons of vanilla tablespoons of vanilla

2¾ oats cups or 5½ oats cups

½ cup of sugar cup of sugar

½ teaspoon of baking powder teaspoon of baking powder

Therefore, this shows the amount of each ingredient that would be required to double four dozen cookies to eight dozen cookies. It is thus that the knowledge of multiplication, addition and division of fractions is essential in preparing recipes.

Reference

Barker, V. C., Aufmann, R. N., & Lockwood, J. S. (2009). Essential mathematics with applications: Student support edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.