Water Conservation. Are You Flushing Your Money Down the Toilet?

Water conservation is a hot topic these days.  One of the most wasteful places that we use water is the bathroom.  I've posted thoughts and calculations on wasting water in the bath and shower, but I've never discussed one of the other fixtures that uses a lot of water.  The toilet.

"Flushing your money down the toilet." is a fairly common phrase for wasting money.  In some ways, it is literally true.  I don't condone anyone making it a habit to not flush the toilet, even though some people do.  Even if that habit is meant to save money and promote water conservation, it's still kind of gross.  However, we can look at just how much water is used when you hit the handle and how much money that costs per flush.

To figure this out, we first need to find out how much water is actually used to flush a toilet.  Many toilets have a different amount of water that is used per flush.  This rating is usually tagged somewhere on the fixture.  Some new toilets are designed with water conservation in mind.  These units will have fewer gallons per flush ratings than older models.  The toilet in my house uses 1.6 gallons per flush.

Now, we need to know how much the costs are for not only water service to your house, but sewer service also.  My most recent water bill charges a price of $20.00 for up to 2,500 gallons of water per month.  Every 1000 gallons of water over that is an additional $4.72.  The sewer costs are also set at $20.00 for up to 2,500 gallons of water and $4.72 for every additional 2,500 gallons.
As long as my total water and sewer usage is under 2,500 gallons per month, my combined cost of water and sewer together is $.016 per gallon.

So, if my toilet flushes at a rate of 1.6 gallons per flush, and my cost per gallon is $.016, then multiply the two numbers to come up with $.0256 per flush.  Just under 3 cents to flush the toilet.

So the next time someone tells you that you're throwing your money down the toilet, you can tell them how much it truly costs to flush that money away and lecture them on the importance of water conservation.

I know it's dirty math, but someone has to do it.

For more on how to calculate volumes, flow and pressure, try some of the online calculators at CalcuNATION.

Volume Conversion Calculators

Flow Measurement Calculators

US Gallon Volume Conversion Calculator

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

Bald Versus Non-Bald. The Challenges of the Dome.

Being bald is more than a hair style, or in some cases, a non-hair style.  It turns into a way of life.  If you are fortunate enough to embrace your own baldness, you can find the positive aspects of being bald.  One of the most common references to baldness is that being bald is "low maintenance".  For those that aren't lucky enough to be bald, it's not as "low maintenance" as you might think.  It may save some money at the barber shop, but there are other hassles and expenses that need to be recognized.

If you're reading this and you have a full head of hair, then good for you.  For the average joe with a mop on his head, we can make a few assumptions.  For your daily maintenance, you probably spend some time washing your hair, and combing your hair.  Your expenses for keeping your flowing locks in check probably amount to the cost of some hair products like shampoo and maybe some hair gel.  Of course we can't forget the costs of going to the barber maybe once every two weeks?  So, in a given month, a well follicled male would probably spend around $20-$40 on hair products, depending on how fancy he is.  And, at the barber shop, we'll assume for the sake of this example, he might spend $30 per month.  That comes out to about $50-$70 per month to maintain the lifestyle of the rich and hairy.

Now let's look at your average good looking bald guy.  He doesn't have the expenses of going to the barber shop, or having to purchase shampoo or hair gel.  However, there are other expenses.

If our hair challenged friend uses a razor on his head daily to keep that shiny top looking good, he has extra costs on shaving cream and razor blades.  And, razor blades aren't cheap either.  At least not good ones.  If you do use bad razor blades, you risk cuts on your noggin.  This is where the added cost of band-aids comes in.  If your baldness is something you're not ashamed of, then you will be out in public with your chrome dome.  I don't know many people that aren't aware of the dangers of sunburns, but I can assure you that the top of your head is sensitive and not a great place to be peeling.  Now, we're adding the cost of sunscreen....good sunscreen...applied a lot.

So, from personal experience, I can assure you that there are some monthly costs associated with maintaining a bald dome.  It also takes some time every day to make sure you aren't looking scruffy...in spots.

In summation, I don't really see much of a difference in cost or time when it comes to maintaining a nice head of hair, or a nice head of nothing.

This post was written to help support CalcuNATION.  Here are some examples of health related calculators.

Nutrition and Health Calculators

Caloric Needs Calculator

Caloric Energy Calculator

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

Old MacDonald Uses Math on His Farm. E-I-E-I-O. Part 2

Old MacDonald uses math on his farm to be the best farmer he can be.  Being a farmer, he takes on multiple roles in his business that are usually split up between many employees in other businesses.  He takes on the responsibilities of accountant, executive management, workforce, and maintenance.  In part 1, we looked at some of the simple ways that he has to look at finances when running a farm as a business.  Old MacDonald has to be constantly vigilant to keep costs down and his revenue stream up.  One way that he keeps costs down is to do his own maintenance and mechanic work whenever he can.

Many of the machines on a farm play critical roles.  Without tractors, combines, trucks and implements, Old "Mac" wouldn't be able to perform the day-to-day functions necessary to produce a profit.  It's very important that the equipment functions properly when needed.  And many times, especially when weather is involved, he may need the equipment to perform flawlessly in a short window of time.  A great example would be trying to harvest when a storm is brewing.

Because of the importance of his machinery, Old "Mac" constantly maintains and repairs his own equipment.  This ensures him that everything is ready when it's needed and it helps keep his costs down from having someone else work on it.  Because of this, he has a general knowledge of mechanics and hydraulics.

Many of the machinery on the farm uses hydraulics.  Most of his machines have pumps, motors and cylinders.  It helps Old "Mac" to know how the items function.  Being able to "backyard engineer" some of the equipment saves time and money.

It would be handy if Old MacDonald was familiar with the math of cylinder force, speed, and hydraulic horsepower.  I'd bet he would give some engineers a run for their money on machine design.

Of course, there are the costs of duct tape and baling twine that have to be accounted for.

For more information on mechanical and hydraulic math, try some of the online calculators at CalcuNATION.

Machinery and Engineering Calculators Menu

Hydraulic Calculators Menu

Cylinder Force Calculator

Cylinder Extension Speed Calculator

Cylinder Retraction Speed Calculator

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

Inflation. It's the Enemy of Your Savings Account.

Inflation may not sound like an evil word, but if you value your money and how much you save, it can be evil.  Like many people, I was taught to save money for a rainy day.  I'll admit that I didn't always do as good of a job that I should have, but I do at least recognize the importance of saving money and earning interest.  What many aren't taught at a young age is the lesson of inflation and how it will affect the value of your savings.

Okay, so you may not be all that familiar with inflation.  Inflation is basically the erosion of value per unit of currency as a result in a generally increase in price for goods over time.  I'll try to give you an example.  The price for gas, energy, groceries and other goods slowly increase in price over time.  As these prices increase, it takes more money to purchase these items.  As time goes by, you will be able to purchase fewer goods per dollar you spend.  The value per dollar slowly erodes.  That is inflation.

So, if you have a great job and earn $100,000/year, think about what you can purchase with that $100,000. 
Next year, you'll be able to purchase about 3-3.5% less items because of the inflation.  The next year you'll be able to purchase about 3-3.5% even less.  Many companies offer a "cost of living" increase each year to combat inflation and keep the value of your compensation close to your purchasing power.

So how is this the enemy of my savings account?  The average inflation rate in the US is about 3-3.5% per year.  Every year, the value of the dollar goes down by 3-3.5%.  If you think about the money you save and the interest rate you're earning, most likely you aren't earning anywhere close to 3% in a savings account.  If you are earning less than the inflation rate, then you are actually losing value in your savings.  Even with the interest you're earning in your savings, the purchasing power of your savings is dwindling if you're not earning more interest than the inflation rate.

I hope this gives you some perspective of inflation and interest and how they react against each other.  I'm definitely not against having a savings account, but it is important to invest wisely and to be smart about where you put your money.

For more information on interest and how interest is calculated, try some of the online calculators at CalcuNATION.

Compound Interest Investment Calculator

Return on Investment Calculator (ROI)

Business and Finance Calculators

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

Water Conservation. The Classic Question of Bath or Shower.

Water conservation is a hot topic these days.  And the amount of water we use in our homes makes up a significant amount of our daily water usage.  Whether you're using water to cook, clean, wash clothes, or bathe, water usage can be significant.  One of the places where we use the most water in the house is the bathroom.  And obviously, we use a lot of water to bathe.  The classic question is:  Do we use more water taking a shower, or bath?

I am going to make the assumption that most people at least know what a bath is and what a shower is.  If not, then we need to have a blog post about hygiene.  It's obvious that a shower and a bath differ in how you bathe.

A shower consists of a constant flow of water, and a bath is a set volume of water.  To determine how which wastes the most water, we need to know a few things.  For a bath, we simply need to know how much volume of water is used.  To determine the amount of water volume is used in a shower, we need to know the amount of flow coming out of the shower head, and how much time is being spent in the shower.
The amount of the flow of water in a shower depends a lot on the design of the shower head.  For this post, we will assume that the shower head will flow 2.5 gallons per minute.  A new shower head in the US will have a flow restrictor that limits flow to 2.5 GPM.

When I think of a standard bath tub, I think of a 30"x60" bath tub unit.  These units have a total volume capacity of around 40 gallons.  So, for this example, we will assume that a bath tub will be filled half way full for use.  That leaves us with a total volume of 20 gallons.

So now that we know the flow rate of the shower and the amount of volume used in a bath, we can do some math to compare.  A bath will use 20 gallons of water and a shower will use 2.5 gallons per minute.  How many minutes in the shower will it take to use more than the 20 gallons of water used in a bath?
Simply divide 20 by 2.5 to find out how many minutes it will take. 

Calculated out, this gives us 8 minutes.  So, if you take a shower for more than 8 minutes, you are using more water than if you took a bath in 20 gallons of water.

Now you've learned a new way of using math to conserve water.  And you're clean too.

For more on flow and volume calculators, try the online calculators at CalcuNATION.

Flow Measurement Calculators

Gallons Per Minute Conversion Calculator

Volume Conversion Calculators

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

CalcuNATION and The Importance of Math Education.

I've spent the last few months developing the website CalcuNATION.  The website is my way of supporting math education and creating a different way for students of all ages to use math and recognize it's importance.  Up until now, I haven't really blogged about the website.  I guess I'll take a moment to explain how I came up with the idea, and why it's important to me.

Math has always been a big part of my life.  I grew up with parents that emphasized math education and how important it is to have a strong understanding of math.  My mother was a teacher and my father owned a small business.  My father always had a story or example that would emphasize math.  One that I remember was about my great-grandfather during the depression and how he was able to parlay his good math skills to be successful.  Which says a lot considering he was a farmer in central Kansas during the depression.

Now that I'm an adult, I find myself in a career that utilizes math.  I help develop and sell drive systems for heavy machinery.  It involves a lot of math.  A whole lot of math.  But, it is fun to see how calculations are used to develop a large machine.  Many of the machines that I help with are used in construction, mining, agriculture and the military.

I was having a conversation with a customer a few months ago about how to calculate the traction needed to develop a tracked rock-grinding machine when I thought about creating a simple calculation website where he could put in his machine information and it would give him an answer.  I put a lot of thought into what a calculation website would need to be for my customer and then it dawned on me to develop the website to show examples of calculations that are used daily.  That is where the idea for online calculators and CalcuNATION came in.

I thought more about who would use a website like CalcuNATION and who would get the most benefit from a collection of online calculators with formulas.  I decided to develop the website with students and teachers in mind.  The classic "Where will I use math in real life?" comment kept running over and over in my head.
So now it's been four months since I started the website.  I try to get as much feedback and involvement from students, teachers and friends to continue to make improvements.  I average one new calculator per day and I try to blog about math as much as possible.

The website has been very successful.  I get a lot of positive comments on it, and it has been used a lot.  Every month, the amount of visitors to the website doubles and that is encouraging to me.

So, if you read this and want to help me promote math, feel free to submit a new calculator idea, or register for the blog and write some posts about math.  Your help would me much appreciated.

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

Old MacDonald Uses Math on His Farm, E-I-E-I-O. Part 1

Old MacDonald was a business man on the farm, and used math.

Farming isn't all about growing plants, and raising animals.  It's a business with all of the math that is associated with running a business.  Because it is a farm, not only are you using business math concepts, but there are other concepts involved in the operation of the farm to be successful.  And being a successful farmer is difficult these days, so being good at math is definitely an advantage to running a profitable farm operation.

There are so many aspects of farming that require math skills that I'm going to concentrate on one aspect per post.  This blog post is about the business math associated with farming.

Farming involves equipment, buildings, and inventory.  I say inventory as a business term, but in farming this would be the cattle and crops that are being raised and grown to sell.  The equipment is used to maintain and cultivate the inventory, and the buildings are for storage and protection of inventory and equipment.  A farmer always needs to be mindful of the concept of ROI (Return On Investment).  For every dollar that a farmer spends, how is that going to help make money?

The ROI concept is important to a farmer on the large expenditures and the small expenditures.  Keeping track of costs on small costs like feed, pesticide, herbicide, vet costs and fuel can add up.  However, if it offers a long-term benefit that outweighs the cost, it would be worth the expense.  For example, many times a farmer has a choice between a low-quality, cheaper feed for cattle versus a higher-quality, more expensive feed.  If the more expensive feed will allow the farmer to raise higher quality cattle and can receive more money for the cattle at market, it may be worth the expense of using the higher-quality feed.  It all depends on the total cost of the feed and the amount of extra revenue the farmer can get for the cattle at market.

On the bigger level, equipment and buildings can be very expensive.  It is fairly common for a tractor or combine to cost as much as a house.  That's why a farmer will weigh out the cost of the machine with how much increased productivity the farmer will receive from using the machine.  The cost of the machine isn't limited to the up front cost.  There are also costs for maintenance, fuel and the loan on the machine that can hit on the farmer's bottom line.  Buildings also fall into a similar issue, they require maintenance and may have a loan as well.

Keeping a vigilant eye on ROI is a constant part of life for a farmer.  It isn't just a job, it's a lifestyle.  It involves very hard, laborious work, and a savvy business sense.  Watching markets, costs, prices, and trends are a daily ritual for a successful farmer.

For more on some of the math discussed in this post, try some of these online calculators:

Return on Investment Calculator

Vehicle Loan Total Cost Calculator

Vehicle Loan Monthly Payment Calculator

Business and Finance Calculators

Fuel Mileage Calculator

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