A Real Life Mathematical Tool, Essay Example

Estimation in mathematics is a process of approximation where the value is uncertain, or unstable; however estimation does involve statistical formulas derived from a sample to help approximate the final value. Although estimates aren’t certain numbers, they are the best approximation a person can make in an event where the variable they are working with are unstable or changing.

Estimation has its practical uses both in mathematics, as well as in daily life. Most people probably don’t realize how much they use this mathematical device on a daily basis. Time is probably one of the components people estimate with the most. How long is it going to take for me to walk from school to the bus stop? How long will it take to drive home in rush hour traffic? What time will my family arrive on Christmas? None of this values can be known definitively, but by using various reasoning and deduction skills, people can estimate the quantity of time a particular task is going to take.

Another wide use of estimation in daily life that most people probably don’t even realize they use involves their diet. Excluding a fraction of the public who pays strict attention to every morsel that goes in their mouth, most of us just eat when we are hungry, try to make healthy food choices, and hope that the number on the scale doesn’t shoot up. Without relentless calorie counting, the only way to obtain a healthy diet and exercise lifestyle is to estimate what you put in your body. This type of estimation and calculation may be subconscious or conscious depending on the person, but either way, for most people, the best they can do is estimate how many calories they ate in a day, how many calories they burned in a day, or how much weight they lost or gained in a week.

Estimation has its uses in daily life and mathematics, but it also has a purpose in the corporate world. Many companies rely on estimates to make major decisions on directions their company is going to take. Many polls are considered to be estimates, so if a company polls their customers about a service they offer and find out that the majority of customers are against the service, the company may remove the service. This could benefit the company if the polling was accurate, but estimates are unstable, changing values, and if the result of the poll didn’t show the true feelings of the entire company’s clientele, the company may suffer.

Estimates have practical uses almost everywhere. People can use estimates to budget their time, budget their wallet and watch their weight. Mathematicians can use estimation in forecasting and predictions. Companies can use estimation for polling of their clientele and trying to make corporate improvements.