Though some people associate measuring with cooking and baking, it is related to math skills. Measuring in cooking and baking typically deals with volume in the form of cups, tablespoons, teaspoons, liters and gallons. To measure well, you must be able to add different measurements together and convert measurements from one form to another. For example, if a recipe calls for 3 tbsp. of oil and you only have a teaspoon, you must multiple the 3 tbsp. by 3, since there are three teaspoons in every tablespoon. Other tasks that involve measurement include laundry and home repairs.
Addition involves combining two numbers to find their total. Addition is found in daily life in the forms of handing out goods or supplies, making food, purchasing items and in a wide variety of paperwork and purchases. For example, if you are at the grocery store and want to determine how much your groceries will cost, you must add together each item's price. Subtraction involves removing an amount from a number. For example, if you know you have four cookies and that you will give your friend one cookie, you can determine that you will have three cookies remaining. Some people take these basic skills for granted but they are found in many tasks.
In multiplication, you add a number to itself multiple times to determine a specific amount. For example, if you have a 5 lb. bag of apples and buy three bags, you multiply 5 lbs. by 3 bags to get a total of 15 lbs. of apples. Multiplication skills are often used when making purchases, converting or doubling recipes and determining totals for home repairs. You must use multiplication to determine the square footage of a location, for instance.
Division involves taking one number and sectioning it into parts. For example, if you work with a friend on a task and are rewarded with $100, you divide 100 by 2 to determine that you each make $50. Division is often used in monetary decisions such as budgeting and determining rate of pay.
When you find a percentage, you determine how much of something another thing uses or requires. For example, you may determine what percentage of your home is a home office for tax purposes. This task involves many basic math skills since you must measure each room in your home, multiply to determine the square footage of each room, and add these figures together before you can find the percentage. To determine what percentage thing A is of thing B, you must divide thing A by thing B. For example, if your home office is 100 square feet and your apartment is 400 square feet, you divide 100 by 400 to get the figure .25, or 25 percent. Percentage is also often used when calculating a tip, since a customary tip is around 15 percent of the total bill.