Measuring wood and other construction materials requires a basic understanding of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. It also requires knowledge of the basic units of measure, such as inch, foot and yard, as well as metric units like millimeter, centimeter and meter. Converting between these units is often necessary to place orders at a lumberyard or to place orders for special parts in another country that uses the metric system of measurement.
Carpenters should be aware of the basic geometric principles regarding shapes and angles. The Pythagorean theorem, for example, is required if a carpenter wishes to determine the length of wood required for a plank that is tilted at an angle, such as those used to build a roof. It is also important for carpenters to know how to calculate the area of a triangle, square or a rectangle. Carpenters should also know how to split up complex or irregular shapes into multiple triangles and rectangles to determine their total area. Carpenters should also be introduced to the basics of circles, such as how to determine the area, circumference and diameter of a circle.
Calculating volume is important for many applications, such as determining the heating requirements of a room, selecting insulation for a house or filling a pool with water. These measurements require a greater facility with imagination and three-dimensional thinking, so using models that the carpenters can look at and touch is a good idea.
Carpenters should have a basic understanding of the math skills required to estimate costs, order supplies and estimate the cost of loans. Carpenters should be able to multiply the per unit cost of supplies by the number of units they purchase, and then add multiple supply orders together to estimate the total costs of the supplies required for a project. They should also be able to calculate the interest that is charged on a loan that they take out to purchase equipment or supplies -- so the carpenter can charge properly for his services and bid intelligently on construction jobs.