Can you think of two examples of something you use every day that you can express as an integer (one positive, one negative)? Next, think of something you use every day you can express as a fraction or a decimal
Every day I have to carry at least 2 pens for writing notes in class. One has to be a red pen and the other is a black pen. The red pen can only be used for writing headings or topics so that I can quickly find the topics when revising. Therefore, 2 is a positive integer (Roger, 2003). I have a personal thermometer to measure the room temperature which sometimes falls to less than zero degrees. The thermometer reading can be -10 degrees Celsius. This is very common during the winter season. It becomes too cold to even walk out of the buildings. I use 6hrs of my time every day to sleep and have a rest. This means that I only make use of ¼ of the day for sleeping. A person is required to have sufficient time for sleeping so that the mind can be able to concentrate fully on daily work.
Why is it important to understand linear equations in business?
Linear equations are very important in business as they can be applied in the decision-making process and also an estimation of future sales of the business. It can also be used in estimating the fixed costs and variable costs in the budgeting process. For example, if the Total cost=Fixed Cost +Variable Cost, then Fixed Cost can be calculated as the difference between Total Cost and Variable Cost.
For a corporation like Pharmaceutical Product Development, Inc. (PPD, 2012), it has to make use of linear functions in measuring all the quantities and types of molecules required for a given compound at the bio-analytical laboratory. PPD has succeeded in training by allocating its human resources team with enough resources and funds after the analysis of the costs and training needs of its employees (PPD, 2012).
How much difference do you think it makes for your bank account whether there is continuous compounding of interest, or only monthly or annual compounding? Do you ever try to make the interest calculations yourself for the interest you earned?
A continuous compounding interest involves working out the interest for the first period after which it is added to the principal amount to arrive at a different principal for the next period until the end (Higgins, 2004). For example, we can assume that one has invested $10000 in a bank that pays an interest rate of 10% per annum. If the bank uses continuous compounding every month, then the amount at the end of the year will be $11,047 compared to $11000 if compounded annually, and $11,025 if compounded semiannually. I have always used continuous compounding as it results in a higher interest compared to the others. I always do my calculations before deciding on the best option for investment in a bank. The calculations are shown below: FV = PV (1+r)n
FV = 10000 (1+0.1)1 = 11000
FV = 10000 (1+0.83)12 = 11,047
FV = 10000 (1+0.5)2 = 11,025
n=Number of periods, r= Rate of interest per period
Have you seen any graphs in a meeting at work or in a business situation that you thought were useful?
Graphs are very useful in presenting business information, especially in showing the various trends in the performance of the business in terms of profitability. Most of the business meetings that I have attended presented the information with the help of graphs. A graph can present a lot of information without necessarily using many words to explain. For example, in one business meeting, I saw a bar graph showing the performance of the company over the last few years.
This can clearly show how the profits have fallen and therefore acts as a warning to the company to improve. They enable the user to have a picture of the information being presented and avoid too many details (Pirzada, 2007). They do not confuse because they only use a few words to explain the information and are very useful for describing functions. For example, profit maximization functions and cost minimization functions. However, they may only confuse a person who has wrongly interpreted the graph.
References
Higgins, R. (2004). Analysis for financial management. New York, NY: Pearson.
Pirzada, S. (2007). Applications of graph theory. New York, NY: Harper.
PPD (2012). Recognized for outstanding employee training and development. Web.
Roger, H. (2003). An introduction to the theory of numbers. South-Western, SW: Thomson Learning.