Real-Life Math -- Solution
Amount of water (in cubic yards):
First you need to convert
the height from inches to yards.
Height = 24 inches
high / 36 inches per yard
Height = 0.67 yards
Area
= length x width x height
Area = 0.67 yards x 13 yards x 15 yards
Area
= 130.65
There are 130.65 cubic yards of water in
the flooded area.
Pump rate = 16 cubic yards per hour
x 0.6
Pump rate = 9.6 cubic yards per hour
The
pump can remove 9.6 cubic yards per hour.
Drainage
time = 130.65 cubic yards / 9.6 cubic yards drained per hour
Drainage
time = 13.61 hours
It will take 13.61 hours to drain
the excavated area.
Geotechnicians spend much of their time using math
to study the physical environment. If they work for a private company, they
might have to make sure budgets are met.
Geotechnician Nizam Khan says
math skills are important. He supervises major projects for an engineering
firm. "Certainly, you have to have a fair knowledge of mathematics," Khan
says.
How much math a geotechnician uses depends on the area they work
in. "If it's in the resource environment, then the mathematics is more
important," Khan says. "On an everyday job in construction -- road building
and things like that -- [a geotechnician] doesn't have to have an understanding
of the higher levels of mathematics."