BASIC MATH

basic maths 1. How do I change Inches to Decimal Feet and Avoid Errors? 2. What are the Basic Area and Volume Formulas? 3. Why Converting Units will be One of the Most Useful Things You will Ever Learn? 4. How do I Learn the Basics of Math and Algebra? 5. How do I Know When to Fold-'em in Texas Hold-'em? 6. What are 3 Useful Trigonometry Concepts? 7. Tricks of the Trade & Rules of Thumb for Basic Math: How do I change Inches to Decimal Feet and Avoid Errors? Bud Caldwell, one of the best Superintendents I ever worked with, taught me the value of changing inches into decimal feet. We were reviewing a shop drawing for a piece of equipment with lots of anchor bolts, and everything was in feet, inches and fractions of an inch. In his head, he quickly converted the inches and fractions of an inch into decimal feet, so we could easily add and check dimensions. He sh owed me a wonderful little trick of the trade that I've used for over 25 years. The inches to decimal feet conversion table  shows illustrates the information. As you know, adding fractions challenges most of us. We probably learned the concept of lowest common denominator at some point, but struggle to remember how to actually use it. So to add feet and inches, we have to deal with fractions and with that 12" in a foot concept, which means we have to add by hand, using pencil and paper. Special calculators for adding feet, inches and fractions of inches are available, but they always seemed difficult to use for me. So adding a string of dimensions in feet, inches and fractions of an inch gets much easier if we can simply convert to decimal feet. Numerous situations occur where these conversions help: * Checking a string of dimensions to verify they correctly add * Comparing elevations between a site drawing (normally in decimal feet) and an architectural drawing (often in feet and inches) * Laying out accessible ramps and accessibility routes Let's use accessible route as an example. Say the building finished floor elevation is 401' - 6 1/4" and the grade at the parking space is 400.14'. The sidewalk between the parking space and the front door has a distance of 30'. Now you probably know that an accessible route has a maximum slope of 5%, or it becomes a ramp and needs handrails. So 401' - 6 1/4" converts to 401.52. Then subtract 400.14 to find the grade change of 1.38'. To find the slope, divide the grade change of 1.38' by the distance of 30' to get a slope of .046 or 4.6%, which is less than the maximum of 5% allowed by code. So it works.