Never Look a Gift Horsepower in the Mouth

If you’re old enough, you may remember the TV show “Mr. Ed”.  Mr. Ed was an amazing talking horse.  Right now, I want to talk horse power.

Today we have automobiles, planes, trains, boats, and motorcycles to help us get where we need to go.  To help us with our work, we have tractors, bulldozers, lawnmowers, cranes, forklifts, and wheel loaders.  Prior to electricity, the internal combustion engine, and even steam power, our main source of power to accomplish our transportation and work needs was the horse.  It’s easy to see why the horse power has been used as a standard to compare the power of different machines.

There are other methods of comparing power output.  But, once a standard is set and widely used, it is difficult to change the entire system.  (Some may remember when the US tried to change to the metric system.)

Not all horses are equal, so what exactly is a horsepower?  First, what is power?  Power is a result of the amount of work that is done for a given period of time.  Because work is force x distance, we get an equation:  Power = (Force x Distance)/Time

The original standard horsepower was determined as follows:
One horse can turn a 24ft diameter mill wheel 144 times/hour with a pulling force of 180 lbs.  Calculated out this comes out to 32,572 ft.lbs per minute.  This was then rounded to 33,000 ft.lbs per minute.

There are many different calculations for horsepower.  Mechanically, horsepower is a function of torque and speed.  To calculate horsepower, multiply torque (in/lbs) by speed (RPM) and then divide by the constant 63,025.
HP = (Torque x RPM) / 63,025

Torque and speed can be altered without sacrificing horsepower through devices like a transmission or gear reducer to either increase torque and decrease speed, or decrease torque and increase speed.

While there are simpler ways to calculate power, and they are more convenient.  The horsepower has been an important reference of power ever since our ancestors started comparing the work output of horses and steam engines.

Of course, Mr. Ed may have a different take on all this.

CalcuNATION is a website featuring online calculators and educational resources for mathematics.  Other Mathematical Blogs ( CalcuNATION on EduBlogs and CalcuNATION on Blogger)

Can't Calculate Your House Payment? I PITI the Fool...

Ok, so it might sound harsh.  Or, if you were born prior to 1985, it might sound like something Mr. T would say.  But PITI is a very important mathematical concept to understand for calculating a mortgage payment, which is a very large expenditure to most.

If you’re not familiar with the term PITI (pronounced Pi-tee), it is an acronym for the basic costs that factor into a mortgage loan.

P is for Principal.  This is the amount that you need the loan for.  On a mortgage, it is usually the cost of the house.  Sometimes other costs could be factored into the principal.  If you wanted some extra money to do repairs on the house and borrowed more than the cost of the house itself, that would go into the principal.

I, the first “I” is for Interest.  The Interest is a rate.  This rate is determined by many factors.  The current competing rates in the market, the amount of risk that you may not be able to pay the loan back, the amount you borrow, etc.  For the lending institution, usually a bank, the interest is the “return on investment” they get for lending you money.  And, this is how they make money.

T is for Taxes.  Ugly little word, but very important to remember.  Along with owning a home you also have a duty to pay property taxes.  These taxes are usually determined yearly and set as a percentage of the perceived value of your property.  How your taxes are determined will be up to the local government.

I, the final “I” is for insurance.  If I’m going to loan you money to purchase a home, and you are going to use that home as collateral for the loan, then it needs to be protected.  Insurance is necessary for acquiring a mortgage.  A mortgage uses the value of the property as collateral in case you are unable to make your payments.  If you don’t make payments, the bank can retrieve some of the money it lent out by taking the house and selling it.  If the house burns down and there wasn’t insurance to cover it, both the owner, and the bank would be ruined.

Mobile Home Mortgage Calculator

So now you know what makes up the acronym PITI.  To see how to calculate the math and determine your monthly PITI payment, visit CalcuNATION.com.

CalcuNATION is a website featuring online calculators and educational resources for mathematics.  Other Mathematical Blogs ( CalcuNATION on EduBlogs and CalcuNATION on Blogger)

It's Hip to Be Square....or a Cube.

When you look around in your daily life, you will see an assortment of  shapes that are used for fashion, architecture, machinery and nature.  It is true that many shapes surround us in this world.  I would dare to say that none are as important as the square.

I know that it is difficult to imagine something that seems so unexciting to be important.  Why would I make such a bold statement.  I simply recognize that the square, and its 3-d brother, the cube, are vital for our measurement of other shapes and figures.  Without the use of the square and cube, we would have a very difficult time judging area and volume.

Imagine a world where volumes weren't measured in cubic units.  Perhaps we used another 3-d shape to determine volume...like the sphere.

"My new car has a very powerful engine, it can smoke the tires with the 383 spherical inch engine."

Because the square and the cube are so basic, they offer the easiest reference for people to visualize the area, or volume of other figures.  To truly understand, grasp, or calculate the area or volume of any shape, you must master the ability to calculate the area of a square, or the volume of a cube.  Then, you can use that knowledge to have a stronger understanding of areas and volumes of irregular shapes.

This is why we should give the square, and the cube, credit.  Without them, we would have a difficult time relating volumes and areas to one another.

Especially the guy with the 383 spherical inch engine.

CalcuNATION is a website featuring online calculators and educational resources for mathematics.  Other Mathematical Blogs ( CalcuNATION on EduBlogs and CalcuNATION on Blogger)