Real-Life Math -- Solution
To figure out how much wood you will need to build the deck of the
boat, you must first find the total square footage of board needed for the
17-foot boat. Here's how:
Square footage = length
x width
Length = 17 feet
Width = 10 feet
Square
footage = 17 x 10
Square footage = 170
But the
boat you're building is only 15 feet long. What percentage of
the 17-foot boat is that?
15 / 17 x 100 = 88 percent
Now
you know that the 15-foot boat is only 88 percent as big as the 17-foot boat.
That means you can multiply the total square footage of the bigger boat by
88 percent.
170 x 0.88 = 149.6
Since
you do not bill for a partial foot of board, round the answer up to the next
highest foot. It should take you 150 feet of wood to complete the deck of
the 15-foot boat.
"Math is mostly measuring lengths and angles and
reading blueprints in this business, but you use it more than you think,"
says Marshall Duhmaine. He is a custom boatbuilder.
"You have to determine
how many board feet of lumber you need to order, how to place a pattern on
the wood so there is as little waste as possible -- and to figure displacement
you need calculus. So really, you need all the math you can get."