Disgusted w/ my math capability, and i think i'm a welder.. pffft

[mla2ofus]

And don't mistakenly grab an engineers tape which is in tenths and hundredths of a foot!! I have one I keep in my toolbox just to mess with other folks mind.
Mike

[Oldendum]

What was the question?

The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything is 42. Unfortunately, no one knows what the question is. (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)

[William McCormick]

And don't mistakenly grab an engineers tape which is in tenths and hundredths of a foot!! I have one I keep in my toolbox just to mess with other folks mind.
Mike

That is why school is not working. People think they have to learn everything about everything before they do anything. When if fact without a real project you will not have any true understanding of the device, system or math you are trying to learn. I have found that those that go to school at first have some cool tips and tricks that they pick up. Then after about six months they do not have them anymore. The reason is that they are not real to them. The importance of them is zero, until they use them in real life.

Sincerely,

William McCormick

[William McCormick]

I wish I could take credit for purposely taking my time - it's mostly because I've screwed up in the past (and made cutting/welding/bending mistakes) that makes sure I draw and think before doing.

Plus math doesn't come easy for me - I have to work at it. I make sure to remind my students that it only looks easy because I've done this so many times.

I try and prepare them for the fact that precise answers that include integers and easy fractions are often not the norm in careers.
Choices must be made to determine the necessary amount of precision.
That includes whether a person even has the ability or equipment to be that precise.

I can definitely compliment your solutions and experience with career related math - some of your work has ended up on my "smart board" for class discussion.

Dave I sometimes use the word retarded, and trust me I mean nothing by it. I often wonder if retarded individuals aren't taking in all the wrong in the world and correctly sorting it out, rather than just brushing over it like we do.

There was a retarded guy Charlie that used to come to my house when I was a kid and he would hang out in the garage as I would fabricate things. After a while he knew all I knew about a procedure, and he knew it perhaps better than I did. So although I say retarded as meaning slow or unworkable, I do not think any less of those individuals that are considered retarded as long as they are sociable.

I think retarded individuals are better suited for certain tasks, when they enjoy those tasks, more so than a person considered not retarded. So to me it is just a case of the right job for the right person. Most of the retarded people I have come to meet, know they are strange, so I usually have a lot in common with them.

Sincerely,

William McCormick

[TimmyTIG]

If you learn how to weld pipe, you don't have to know math. Let the pipefitters take care of that.

[walker]

If you learn how to weld pipe, you don't have to know math. Let the pipefitters take care of that.

Unfortunately not an option for a lot of us. I do the materials take off, order the pipe, cut it, fit it, weld it, pressure test it, document it, invoice it, and hopefully get paid for it.

[dmatt]

Wrong post

[Willie B]

Unfortunately not an option for a lot of us. I do the materials take off, order the pipe, cut it, fit it, weld it, pressure test it, document it, invoice it, and hopefully get paid for it.

I like it when the magazine telemarketers want to know my position in the company. Am I the bookkeeper, secretary, accountant, boss, purchasing agent, floor sweeper, laborer, whipping boy, delinquent account collector, or, once in a while, I do the work the customers get charged for.

Willie

[TimmyTIG]

She's just trying to get a job, not be a one person fab shop.

[mla2ofus]

Timmy, she needs to get on a production welding job where there's very little call for math skills, just keep that hood down and burn that wire and start improving her math skills while earning a paycheck. When she learns to use math along with welding then she can aspire to a less boring welding job.
Mike

[zapster]

Don't feel bad.
I FAILED general math 4 straight years in high school.
Straight F's every time..
But now look.

Everything I do has to deal with numbers.
Being a machinist....Math is needed every minute of every day.

Doing math with your hands is 100 times easier than with your brain.
Get a good calculator..like the one in every phone and have at it.

Don't let it get you down.
Make it make you stand up for yourself and say " I can do this".

...zap!

[Oscar]

Don't feel bad.
I FAILED general math 4 straight years in high school.
Straight F's every time..
But now look.

Everything I do has to deal with numbers.


...zap!

Math also involves much, much more than just numbers. I won't know what that General Math course entails, but solving algebra problems as a youth builds up the neuron connections in your brain that are used to solve ANY logical problem. The more abstract math (like algebra) that one practices, the more neurons are utilized to make logical thinking/problem solving faster and more efficient. That is the whole point of studying math in school. It's like body building. Unless you're a professional bodybuilder, you don't lift weights for the sake of lifting weights---you're after some other kind of after-effect. Studying math is the "lifting weights" part----solving real world problems [in any way] is the "after effect" of building up your brain muscles (neural activity/efficiency).

[N2 Welding]

Oscar I get head aches when I use my brain too much :/ LOL

[Louie1961]

google: Khan Academy

-It's free
-It goes at your own pace
-You can choose topics and grade levels to study
-The questions include hints to click on and videos to click on

-It also makes a nice smiley face and a pleasing "ding" when you get stuff right

Khan Academy is maybe the best single resource on the internet, and you can get it for FREE. It is amazing. My kids all use it for everything from 3rd grade math to college math. it will help you.

[Louie1961]

Some of the MOST TALENTED people I know at everyday mathematics are carpenters and machinists who can do it in their head all day long because of PRACTICE for years.

TRUTH. My dad started out as a tool and die maker and transitioned over to become a machinist after the first 20 years of his career. He is retired now and he still blows me away when it comes to math. I used a fair amount of math as a paramedic calculating drug dosages, and I use even more as a CPA but I can't hold a candle to my dad when it comes to algebra, trig, or geometry, and he does it all in his head on the fly. Go figure.

[Oscar]

Oscar I get head aches when I use my brain too much :/ LOL

Don't you see? That's the good part! That's like when you get a good burn/sore muscles after a good workout. The neurons in your brain are reaching out to neighboring neurons to create a neural super-highway of cognitive mass-transit. Once those "roads" connect, traffic starts to flow more freely (aka: you're getting smarter and smarter).

[idacal]

have you tried getting on at some of the trailer builders in caldwell? If you are green you are probably would not be valuable to a fab shop, you need to find a trigger pulling job, find one of the places that need someone to keep there head under the hood all day welding widgets, and just pay attention and it will start to make sense. I never finished 8th grade most of my job related math I know I learned on the job and I always have a calculator with me.

[storeman]

That is not just math that is real world understanding. You have to subtract six blade cuts, from 240 inches. And then divide by 7 pieces. But most and I mean most guys mess that up real well.

Sincerely,

William McCormick

You have that right William.
Jerry

[Hoff907]

The local college here has added a "Math for the Trades" class after finding that there was a need, look around, there is a class out there.

[docwelder]

this is my m.o. and it's stood me in good stead my whole 45 year career. forget the fancy math unless you like it then by all means knock yourself out. add,subtract,know some simple fractions and know how to read a ruler. spend the time instead being the best welder/burner in the shop. buy a good solar powered calculator and keep it in your locker. if you want to do trick math be an engineer.

[TimmyTIG]

I agree with docwelder, the main thing is to learn how to read a tape measure.

[docwelder]

I agree with docwelder, the main thing is to learn how to read a tape measure.

tim; you would be surprised how many guys who claim to be in the building trades all their lives who can't read a ruler