The speed of sound can be hard to grasp for some. After all, there are other speeds that we are more comfortable with that we use daily. Just about anyone can judge what rate of speed is in miles per hour, or kilometers per hour. We see those measurements all of the time driving down the road. Up until the last century, it was difficult for anyone to imagine travelling at the speed of sound, and most probably didn't understand just what that speed is.
Let's look at sound. Sound is a vibration that travels through a medium. For what we hear, it is a vibration through the air. Air is the medium. If you are under water, vibrations travel through the liquid and the water is the medium. The density of the medium has a large affect on how fast sound can travel through it. The more dense it is, the faster the sound will travel. Water is thicker than air and therefore a sound travelling through water will move faster than through the air.
When we are measuring the speed of a vehicle, like an airplane, we are normally looking at the speed of sound through air. When a jet plane creates a sonic boom, it has reached a speed greater than the speed of sound. As mentioned before, the density of the air will determine at what speed the jet will need to travel to break the sound barrier. Temperature can have a large affect on the density of the air. Hot air is going to be less dense than cold air. Air close to sea level is going to be more dense than air at higher altitudes. So the speed of sound on a hot day at high altitude will be slower than the speed of sound at low altitude on a cold day. The standard used for the speed of sound is the speed in dry air at 68 degrees Fahrenheit. This speed is 768 mile per hour.
To see how much affect the air temperature has on the speed of sound try looking at these calculators.
Speed of Sound Calculator (Fahrenheit)
Speed of Sound Calculator (Celsius)
Now that you have a better understanding of the speed of sound, you can look at other aspects of your life an understand why you may see something and hear it a moment later. For example, you may be at a football game and see the kicker kick the ball in the distance, but hear it a moment later. You can also see lightning and hear the thunder after a few moments. Using the speed of sound you can count how many seconds there is between seeing the lightning, and hearing the thunder to estimate the distance you are from the lightning strike.
Lightning Strike Distance Calculator
In the meantime, try to keep your daily commute at a safe speed and don't try to break any sound barriers on your daily commute.
CalcuNATION is a website featuring online calculators and educational resources for mathematics. Other Mathematical Blogs ( CalcuNATION on EduBlogs and CalcuNATION on Blogger)
Sunday, September 18, 2011
The Cylinder - Not a Round Rectangle...But, Kinda...
We depend so much on the shape of the cylinder. If you truly understand what a cylinder is, you will see that we use it everywhere. To help understand what a cylinder is, I think it is best to imagine one. I think of a can of food. A can is a cylinder. If you look at it from the side, it looks like a rectangle, if you look at it from the top, it's a square. That is the basics of a cylinder.
Now that I've pointed out one example of a cylinder, look around and see what other examples you can think of. How about an unsharpened pencil? A pizza is a very flat cylinder. Any pole or even the columns on old buildings can be cylinders. It's pretty obvious that this shape is important to us. This is why it's important to understand the basic math behind the cylinder.
First, we'll look at the volume of a cylinder. Since volume measures the 3-D aspect of the shape, we need to know the area of the base, then multiply that by the height. The base is a circle, so to find the area we multiply Pi x R2. Pi is a constant that is approximately 3.1416. R is the radius of the circle. Once we find the area of the base circle, we multiply that by the height to find the volume. The total equation is Pi x R2 x H.
Online Calculator for Cylinder Volume
Online Calculator for Circle Area
Surface area of a cylinder is also important to know. The surface area is the amount of area on the surface of the cylinder. This would include the area of the circle on the base, and the area of the circle on the top of the cylinder, as well as the rectangle that wraps around the body of the cylinder. So the total surface area of the two circles would be 2 x Pi x R2. The area of the rectangle that surrounds the body would be found by multiplying the height of the cylinder by the circumference of the base of one of the circles. The circumference is found from the equation 2 x Pi x R. So to find the total surface area of a cylinder the equation is: (2 x Pi x R2) + (2 x Pi x R)
Online Calculator for Cylinder Surface Area
Online Calculator for Circle Circumference
Now you have the basic math behind the cylinder. What other objects would you consider to be cylinders? What is the surface area or volume of those objects? I like to know the volume of the pizza I eat, try that next time you're at a restaurant.
CalcuNATION is a website featuring online calculators and educational resources for mathematics. Other Mathematical Blogs ( CalcuNATION on EduBlogs and CalcuNATION on Blogger)
Now that I've pointed out one example of a cylinder, look around and see what other examples you can think of. How about an unsharpened pencil? A pizza is a very flat cylinder. Any pole or even the columns on old buildings can be cylinders. It's pretty obvious that this shape is important to us. This is why it's important to understand the basic math behind the cylinder.
First, we'll look at the volume of a cylinder. Since volume measures the 3-D aspect of the shape, we need to know the area of the base, then multiply that by the height. The base is a circle, so to find the area we multiply Pi x R2. Pi is a constant that is approximately 3.1416. R is the radius of the circle. Once we find the area of the base circle, we multiply that by the height to find the volume. The total equation is Pi x R2 x H.
Online Calculator for Cylinder Volume
Online Calculator for Circle Area
Surface area of a cylinder is also important to know. The surface area is the amount of area on the surface of the cylinder. This would include the area of the circle on the base, and the area of the circle on the top of the cylinder, as well as the rectangle that wraps around the body of the cylinder. So the total surface area of the two circles would be 2 x Pi x R2. The area of the rectangle that surrounds the body would be found by multiplying the height of the cylinder by the circumference of the base of one of the circles. The circumference is found from the equation 2 x Pi x R. So to find the total surface area of a cylinder the equation is: (2 x Pi x R2) + (2 x Pi x R)Online Calculator for Cylinder Surface Area
Online Calculator for Circle Circumference
Now you have the basic math behind the cylinder. What other objects would you consider to be cylinders? What is the surface area or volume of those objects? I like to know the volume of the pizza I eat, try that next time you're at a restaurant.
CalcuNATION is a website featuring online calculators and educational resources for mathematics. Other Mathematical Blogs ( CalcuNATION on EduBlogs and CalcuNATION on Blogger)
To The Point with Cone Math
Although the cone isn't as popular, or as common as other shapes, it is still a mainstay in our daily lives. Without the cone, there would be fewer options to hold your ice cream, it would be difficult to alter traffice around construction zones, and the funnel wouldn't even exist. How would we be able to pour fluids into a small space without a funnel? Because of the unique qualities of this shape, it's important to know the basic math behind the cone.
Let's look at what a cone is. It is a shape that is similar to a pyramid. Instead of the pyramid having a square, or triangular base, it has a circle for a base. The body of the cone extends from the circular base and meets at a point.
The volume of a cone can be calculated from a combination of two equations. First, we need to know the area of the circular base. This equation is Pi x R2. Pi is the constant estimated at 3.1416. R is the radius of the circle. Now that we have what we need to find the area of the cone base, we need to multiply that by 1/3 x Height to find the total volume. This gives us a final equation for volume of 1/3 x H x Pi x R2.
Circle Area Calculator Cone Volume Calculator
Another math function for cones is the surface area. Again, this is a two part equation with the first part finding the area of the base. Again, we use Pi x R2 for the area of the base, now we need to find the surface area of the body of the cone. To find the body surface area we use Pi x R x S. R is the radius of the base, and S is the length of the slant of the outside edge of the cone from the base to the point. The slant can either be measured on it's own, or you can use the Pythagorean theorem to find the slant length from the cone height and base radius. The total combination of these two parts forms the equation for cone surface area. Pi x R2 x Pi x R x S
Pythagorean Theorem Calculator Cone Surface Area Calculator
Now that you have the basic math behind the geometry of cones, you can effectively find out how much ice cream is left in the bottom of your ice cream cone. And we all know how important that is.
CalcuNATION is a website featuring online calculators and educational resources for mathematics. Other Mathematical Blogs ( CalcuNATION on EduBlogs and CalcuNATION on Blogger)
Let's look at what a cone is. It is a shape that is similar to a pyramid. Instead of the pyramid having a square, or triangular base, it has a circle for a base. The body of the cone extends from the circular base and meets at a point.
The volume of a cone can be calculated from a combination of two equations. First, we need to know the area of the circular base. This equation is Pi x R2. Pi is the constant estimated at 3.1416. R is the radius of the circle. Now that we have what we need to find the area of the cone base, we need to multiply that by 1/3 x Height to find the total volume. This gives us a final equation for volume of 1/3 x H x Pi x R2.
Circle Area Calculator Cone Volume Calculator
Another math function for cones is the surface area. Again, this is a two part equation with the first part finding the area of the base. Again, we use Pi x R2 for the area of the base, now we need to find the surface area of the body of the cone. To find the body surface area we use Pi x R x S. R is the radius of the base, and S is the length of the slant of the outside edge of the cone from the base to the point. The slant can either be measured on it's own, or you can use the Pythagorean theorem to find the slant length from the cone height and base radius. The total combination of these two parts forms the equation for cone surface area. Pi x R2 x Pi x R x S
Pythagorean Theorem Calculator Cone Surface Area Calculator
Now that you have the basic math behind the geometry of cones, you can effectively find out how much ice cream is left in the bottom of your ice cream cone. And we all know how important that is.
CalcuNATION is a website featuring online calculators and educational resources for mathematics. Other Mathematical Blogs ( CalcuNATION on EduBlogs and CalcuNATION on Blogger)
Fluid Power –How Hydraulics Can Move Mountains
Many people may not realize the potential power that they hold in a glass of water. If you really look closely at the power of fluids, like water, you’ll see how they have the ability to literally move mountains. Examples are everywhere in nature. One of the best examples of how powerful a fluid can be is the Grand Canyon. With enough time, water can carve out vast parts of our landscape. And it didn’t take long for humans to harness fluid power in the form of hydraulics.
Hydraulics is a term used for the application of fluid power in a liquid form. After all, gas is also a fluid. When you look at gas as a fluid power, it is referred to as pneumatic. Hydraulics is most commonly used in machinery. The advantage of using hydraulics in machinery is the ability to move, cut, carry, lift, dig, or mix a very large load. In machinery the hydraulics form a system made up of a pump to move the fluid, hoses or pipes for the fluid to move through, and a hydraulic actuator that performs work. The two most common types of actuators in hydraulics are cylinders and motors.
Before we can get into how the hydraulic motors and cylinders work, we need to understand two aspects of hydraulic power: pressure and flow. Pressure is the amount of force that is being transmitted through a fluid and can be calculated as pounds per square inch (PSI). If you apply 1000 pounds onto one square inch of area, you have 1000 PSI. Flow is the amount of volume and speed in which you are moving the fluid, and is many times calculated as Gallons per Minute (GPM). If you are pumping 20 gallons of fluid every minute, your flow is 20GPM. In hydraulics, horsepower is calculated from pressure and flow.
Calculate Hydraulic Horsepower
A hydraulic cylinder is basically a rod that is inside a sealed tube. As the tube is filled with fluid, it forces the rod out of the tube. Cylinders are everywhere in machinery and can push and pull very large loads of weight. Think of a fork truck and the cylinders used to lift the load. The force that the cylinder can exert depends on cylinder size and the amount of pressure being applied. The amount of speed that the rod moves out at is determined by cylinder size and the flow of the fluid.
Calculate Cylinder Force Calculate Cylinder Speed
A hydraulic motor is very similar to a pump. A pump is being turned by electrical, mechanical, or even human power to create pressure and flow in the fluid. A motor converts the pressure and flow back to a rotating output. Many times motors are mounted to wheels, augers, or mixers. Think of the drum on a cement truck. That is a heavy load being turned. The amount of torque the motor is able to produce depends on the motor displacement and the pressure of the fluid. The speed of the motor also depends on the motor displacement, but depends on fluid flow.
Calculate Hydraulic Motor Torque Calculate Hydraulic Motor Speed
Now you have the basics of how hydraulics work and why they are used on heavy machinery. The next time you drive by a construction site and see the large machinery, think about the river in the Grand Canyon and how powerful fluids really can be.
CalcuNATION is a website featuring online calculators and educational resources for mathematics. Other Mathematical Blogs ( CalcuNATION on EduBlogs and CalcuNATION on Blogger)
Hydraulics is a term used for the application of fluid power in a liquid form. After all, gas is also a fluid. When you look at gas as a fluid power, it is referred to as pneumatic. Hydraulics is most commonly used in machinery. The advantage of using hydraulics in machinery is the ability to move, cut, carry, lift, dig, or mix a very large load. In machinery the hydraulics form a system made up of a pump to move the fluid, hoses or pipes for the fluid to move through, and a hydraulic actuator that performs work. The two most common types of actuators in hydraulics are cylinders and motors.
Before we can get into how the hydraulic motors and cylinders work, we need to understand two aspects of hydraulic power: pressure and flow. Pressure is the amount of force that is being transmitted through a fluid and can be calculated as pounds per square inch (PSI). If you apply 1000 pounds onto one square inch of area, you have 1000 PSI. Flow is the amount of volume and speed in which you are moving the fluid, and is many times calculated as Gallons per Minute (GPM). If you are pumping 20 gallons of fluid every minute, your flow is 20GPM. In hydraulics, horsepower is calculated from pressure and flow.
Calculate Hydraulic Horsepower
A hydraulic cylinder is basically a rod that is inside a sealed tube. As the tube is filled with fluid, it forces the rod out of the tube. Cylinders are everywhere in machinery and can push and pull very large loads of weight. Think of a fork truck and the cylinders used to lift the load. The force that the cylinder can exert depends on cylinder size and the amount of pressure being applied. The amount of speed that the rod moves out at is determined by cylinder size and the flow of the fluid.
Calculate Cylinder Force Calculate Cylinder Speed
A hydraulic motor is very similar to a pump. A pump is being turned by electrical, mechanical, or even human power to create pressure and flow in the fluid. A motor converts the pressure and flow back to a rotating output. Many times motors are mounted to wheels, augers, or mixers. Think of the drum on a cement truck. That is a heavy load being turned. The amount of torque the motor is able to produce depends on the motor displacement and the pressure of the fluid. The speed of the motor also depends on the motor displacement, but depends on fluid flow.
Calculate Hydraulic Motor Torque Calculate Hydraulic Motor Speed
Now you have the basics of how hydraulics work and why they are used on heavy machinery. The next time you drive by a construction site and see the large machinery, think about the river in the Grand Canyon and how powerful fluids really can be.
CalcuNATION is a website featuring online calculators and educational resources for mathematics. Other Mathematical Blogs ( CalcuNATION on EduBlogs and CalcuNATION on Blogger)
Circle Math - A Well Rounded Education
There are a lot of clichés to choose from for a blog about circle math. What goes around comes around, a new spin on math, or it’s easy as PI. Regardless of the corny ways to describe the subject, there is no denying the importance of knowing the basic math associated with circles. We rely on circles heavily in our daily lives. Imagine a world without wheels, circular planets, and (most important to me) round food like pizza and hamburgers. There are so many aspects in our lives that we rely on circles and spheres that is why it is important to know the basic math associated with them.
The most important mathematical ingredient to understand on this subject is Pi. This is a constant number used when calculating different aspects of circles. The actual number of Pi is approximately 3.141592654….it actually has a never ending amount of numbers after the decimal. In most math classes it suffices to use 3.14 or 3.1416 for more specific answers.
In addition to PI, there is the radius and diameter. The radius is the amount of distance from the center of the circle to the outside of the circle. The diameter is the distance of a line that bisects the circle from one side to the other and crosses through the center. The diameter of a circle is always twice the distance as the radius.
There are no corners, or even sides to this shape. It is a continuous curve around a common point. The outside of a circle is called a circumference. It’s similar to the perimeter of other shapes, but since there isn’t a side, just a constant curve, it’s called a circumference. To calculate the circumference of a circle you need to know the radius length and Pi. The equation is: 2 x Pi x R where R is the radius. Sometimes you’ll also see this equation used with the diameter. Because the diameter is twice the distance as the radius, the equation would be: Pi x D where D is the Diameter.
The area of a circle is also important. ( I want to know how much pizza I’m eating ) To calculate the area of a circle, you can use Pi and the radius again. The equation to find the area is: Pi x R². If you take the square of the radius and multiply that by Pi you will have the area.
Since the sphere is the 3-D version of the circle, the math to calculate the surface area and volume only slightly more complex. You can use the following equation to calculate the surface area of a sphere: 4 x Pi x R². To calculate the volume of a sphere, use the equation: 4/3 x Pi x R³.
Now you have the basic math for circles and spheres. What you can do with this mathematical power is nearly limitless. You can calculate the volume of the Earth, you can calculate the surface area of a baseball, or like me, you can find out the area of a pizza.
CalcuNATION is a website featuring online calculators and educational resources for mathematics. Other Mathematical Blogs ( CalcuNATION on EduBlogs and CalcuNATION on Blogger)
The most important mathematical ingredient to understand on this subject is Pi. This is a constant number used when calculating different aspects of circles. The actual number of Pi is approximately 3.141592654….it actually has a never ending amount of numbers after the decimal. In most math classes it suffices to use 3.14 or 3.1416 for more specific answers.
In addition to PI, there is the radius and diameter. The radius is the amount of distance from the center of the circle to the outside of the circle. The diameter is the distance of a line that bisects the circle from one side to the other and crosses through the center. The diameter of a circle is always twice the distance as the radius.
There are no corners, or even sides to this shape. It is a continuous curve around a common point. The outside of a circle is called a circumference. It’s similar to the perimeter of other shapes, but since there isn’t a side, just a constant curve, it’s called a circumference. To calculate the circumference of a circle you need to know the radius length and Pi. The equation is: 2 x Pi x R where R is the radius. Sometimes you’ll also see this equation used with the diameter. Because the diameter is twice the distance as the radius, the equation would be: Pi x D where D is the Diameter.
The area of a circle is also important. ( I want to know how much pizza I’m eating ) To calculate the area of a circle, you can use Pi and the radius again. The equation to find the area is: Pi x R². If you take the square of the radius and multiply that by Pi you will have the area.
Since the sphere is the 3-D version of the circle, the math to calculate the surface area and volume only slightly more complex. You can use the following equation to calculate the surface area of a sphere: 4 x Pi x R². To calculate the volume of a sphere, use the equation: 4/3 x Pi x R³.
Now you have the basic math for circles and spheres. What you can do with this mathematical power is nearly limitless. You can calculate the volume of the Earth, you can calculate the surface area of a baseball, or like me, you can find out the area of a pizza.
CalcuNATION is a website featuring online calculators and educational resources for mathematics. Other Mathematical Blogs ( CalcuNATION on EduBlogs and CalcuNATION on Blogger)
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Basic Math of Triangles
It's hard to imagine a world without the triangle. I'm not talking about the musical instrument version, the love version, or even the famous Bermuda version. If you really think about how many uses you see for triangles in every aspect of our lives, it would be scary to imagine a world without them. They are used in engineering, architecture, machinery, nature and decorations. Because there are so many uses, it is important to have a strong grasp of the basic math principles behind this shape.
A triangle is a 3 sided shape with 3 corners and can be described in 3 ways. There are three basic types: Isosceles, Scalene and Equilateral. An Equilateral triangle has equal lengths on all 3 sides. An Isosceles has 2 sides of equal length. And Scalene has 3 different lengths of all sides.
A unique triangle is the Right triangle. This triangle has one corner that is 90 degrees. No matter what version you have, you can add all 3 angles at the corners and the sum will be 180 degrees.
To find the perimeter you find the total sum of the lengths of all three sides. It's pretty simple. To calculate the triangle perimeter you add Length1 + Length2 + Length3.
The area of a triangle is a little more tricky. Think of a triangle as half of a parallelogram. To calculate the area of a parallelogram, you multiply the base length by the height. Don't confuse the height length as one of the side lengths. To calculate the area of triangle , you multiply 1/2 x base length x height.
Finally we get to the Pythagorean Theorem. On any triangle, the longest side is referred to as the hypotenuse. If you look at a Right triangle, the hypotenuse is directly across from the 90 degree angle. Using the Pythagorean Theorem, we can calculate the length of the hypotenuse of the Right Triangle from the lengths of the other two sides. To calculate the hypotenuse (c), use the equation: a2 + b2 = c2
These are some of the most basic math calculations for triangles. Try to spend a day and make a list of how many times you see a triangle in use.
CalcuNATION is a website featuring online calculators and educational resources for mathematics. Other Mathematical Blogs ( CalcuNATION on EduBlogs and CalcuNATION on Blogger)
A triangle is a 3 sided shape with 3 corners and can be described in 3 ways. There are three basic types: Isosceles, Scalene and Equilateral. An Equilateral triangle has equal lengths on all 3 sides. An Isosceles has 2 sides of equal length. And Scalene has 3 different lengths of all sides.
A unique triangle is the Right triangle. This triangle has one corner that is 90 degrees. No matter what version you have, you can add all 3 angles at the corners and the sum will be 180 degrees.To find the perimeter you find the total sum of the lengths of all three sides. It's pretty simple. To calculate the triangle perimeter you add Length1 + Length2 + Length3.
The area of a triangle is a little more tricky. Think of a triangle as half of a parallelogram. To calculate the area of a parallelogram, you multiply the base length by the height. Don't confuse the height length as one of the side lengths. To calculate the area of triangle , you multiply 1/2 x base length x height.
Finally we get to the Pythagorean Theorem. On any triangle, the longest side is referred to as the hypotenuse. If you look at a Right triangle, the hypotenuse is directly across from the 90 degree angle. Using the Pythagorean Theorem, we can calculate the length of the hypotenuse of the Right Triangle from the lengths of the other two sides. To calculate the hypotenuse (c), use the equation: a2 + b2 = c2
These are some of the most basic math calculations for triangles. Try to spend a day and make a list of how many times you see a triangle in use.
CalcuNATION is a website featuring online calculators and educational resources for mathematics. Other Mathematical Blogs ( CalcuNATION on EduBlogs and CalcuNATION on Blogger)
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Is The Pay Worth the Pain? Salary vs. Hourly Wage
I’m sure there are many people that ask themselves if they are getting paid enough. It would be rare for someone to say that they felt that they didn’t need more pay. But, how much is your time and effort worth? If you get paid hourly wages, you can get extra money for working longer hours. If you work at a job that pays a salary, you may be required to work many late nights, or put in extra effort without an increase in pay. There are a lot of jobs out there that are very similar in function, but they may pay either a salary, or hourly wages. What is worth more?
First, there must be some assumptions. Most of the time, the total compensation at a job can include benefits other than just pay. There are things like insurance, vacations, sick days, etc. Those are definitely factors that can make a difference on how well someone feels they are being compensated. But, if all of those factors are fairly equal in the level of compensation, it is pretty easy to determine what method of earnings would be better.
To calculate the yearly income of most people earning a salary, it is fairly straight forward. The yearly salary is generally a set amount of money that a person earns in a year, usually taken in monthly, bi-monthly, or weekly increments. This yearly amount doesn’t change whether a person puts in extra hours, or fewer hours. Of course there is a job function that needs to be done and if a person isn’t putting in the necessary time to accomplish their tasks, they could soon be earning $0 for a yearly salary.
Now a typical hourly wage job is based on a rate of pay, like dollars per hour. The amount that someone could earn in a year is going to be affected by their pay rate and the amount of hours that they work in a year. Another factor that enters into the equation is overtime pay. In the U.S., a normal work week is 40 hours. Every hour that is worked in addition to 40 hours is considered overtime and the pay rate for those extra hours is 150% of your normal pay rate. Typically it’s called “time and a half”.
So now that you have a better idea of both pay practices, we can compare them to see which is better for a given situation. Of course, this is not taking into account other compensation benefits.
Here is an example: A paralegal is paid $18.50/hour in hourly wages, and is working for a new lawyer that is paid $65,000 in annual salary. They spend a year working the same amount of long hours to prepare for a high profile case. If they are at the office 12 hours/day, 5 days/week, 50 weeks a year, how does their pay compensation compare?
Since the lawyer is on a salary, we know that the lawyer’s yearly compensation is $65,000, no matter how many hours are worked. The paralegal is paid hourly, and the total yearly compensation will be calculated from the pay rate, normal hours worked per week, hours of overtime worked per week, and how many weeks worked in a year.
A helpful tool to calculate this is an Hourly Wage Earnings Calculator.
After we finish with the math, we learn that the paralegal earned a total of $64,750 for that year. This is very comparable to the total salary earnings of the lawyer at $65,000.
This is only an example, but it may give some insight into what is worth more when it comes to a new job, or a career path.
For other financial calculators that can help with money matters, follow this link: Financial Calculators. Good Luck!
CalcuNATION is a website featuring online calculators and educational resources for mathematics. Other Mathematical Blogs ( CalcuNATION on EduBlogs and CalcuNATION on Blogger)
First, there must be some assumptions. Most of the time, the total compensation at a job can include benefits other than just pay. There are things like insurance, vacations, sick days, etc. Those are definitely factors that can make a difference on how well someone feels they are being compensated. But, if all of those factors are fairly equal in the level of compensation, it is pretty easy to determine what method of earnings would be better.
To calculate the yearly income of most people earning a salary, it is fairly straight forward. The yearly salary is generally a set amount of money that a person earns in a year, usually taken in monthly, bi-monthly, or weekly increments. This yearly amount doesn’t change whether a person puts in extra hours, or fewer hours. Of course there is a job function that needs to be done and if a person isn’t putting in the necessary time to accomplish their tasks, they could soon be earning $0 for a yearly salary.
Now a typical hourly wage job is based on a rate of pay, like dollars per hour. The amount that someone could earn in a year is going to be affected by their pay rate and the amount of hours that they work in a year. Another factor that enters into the equation is overtime pay. In the U.S., a normal work week is 40 hours. Every hour that is worked in addition to 40 hours is considered overtime and the pay rate for those extra hours is 150% of your normal pay rate. Typically it’s called “time and a half”.
So now that you have a better idea of both pay practices, we can compare them to see which is better for a given situation. Of course, this is not taking into account other compensation benefits.
Here is an example: A paralegal is paid $18.50/hour in hourly wages, and is working for a new lawyer that is paid $65,000 in annual salary. They spend a year working the same amount of long hours to prepare for a high profile case. If they are at the office 12 hours/day, 5 days/week, 50 weeks a year, how does their pay compensation compare?
Since the lawyer is on a salary, we know that the lawyer’s yearly compensation is $65,000, no matter how many hours are worked. The paralegal is paid hourly, and the total yearly compensation will be calculated from the pay rate, normal hours worked per week, hours of overtime worked per week, and how many weeks worked in a year.
A helpful tool to calculate this is an Hourly Wage Earnings Calculator.
After we finish with the math, we learn that the paralegal earned a total of $64,750 for that year. This is very comparable to the total salary earnings of the lawyer at $65,000.
This is only an example, but it may give some insight into what is worth more when it comes to a new job, or a career path.
For other financial calculators that can help with money matters, follow this link: Financial Calculators. Good Luck!
CalcuNATION is a website featuring online calculators and educational resources for mathematics. Other Mathematical Blogs ( CalcuNATION on EduBlogs and CalcuNATION on Blogger)
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