• Question: How does the principles of science and mathematics apply to your everyday tasks?

    Asked by Zoe to Matthew, Neil, Paula, Pete, Philippa on 8 Mar 2015. This question was also asked by Kitty, Anju.
    • Photo: Philippa Jefferis

      Philippa Jefferis answered on 8 Mar 2015:

      Physics and maths are fundamental to my work. To ensure that my design is safe and going to work I carry out design calculations to model how my design (such as a bridge) works in real world. There are design codes that engineers have developed over time that help me make decisions about what size beam or column I may need in order to carry the load (downward force) from cars driving over my bridge. I also have to consider the impact of the wind blowing on my bridge and account for this force that is at right angles to the downward force of the traffic. I combine all of the forces acting on my bridge and then decide how strong it needs to be. There are some very useful formulas that help.

      I also always include a safety factor to allow additional strength than the bridge will ever need to make sure it is definitely strong enough.

    • Photo: Neil Taylor

      Neil Taylor answered on 9 Mar 2015:

      Hi Zoe!

      Science and mathematics are two things that I use every day at work. When I am trying to find a solution to a problem, I need to use the principles of science… and these principles are written in the language of maths, through equations.

      For example: for a lot of the problems that I need to solve, I need to first work out how much an object weighs underwater. You may have noticed that an object appears to weigh less underwater (and may even float!). This is because the submerged object experiences an upwards force that is equal to the weight of the displaced water (the water that the object has shifted out the way!). The is called BUOYANCY.

      If this force is LESS than the weight of the object out of the water, then the object will SINK (but still appear lighter in the water than when it was out).

      If the force is GREATER than the weight of the object out of water, then the object will FLOAT.

      (Can you work out what happens if the force is EQUAL to the weight of the object out of water? :D)

      This is known as Archimedes’ Principle (named after the Greek engineer/mathematician/inventor, who some say shouted “Eureka!” when he discovered this!).

      To describe this scientific principle, and to work out exactly how heavy an object appears underwater, requires equations – and that’s where the mathematics comes in.

      To work out the submerged weight of a pipe, for example, I use equations that are based on: the outer diameter of the pipe, the wall thickness of the pipe, the density of the pipe material, the density of the oil/gas that is being transported, and the density of the displaced seawater.

      Hope this answered your question!

    • Photo: Pete Symons

      Pete Symons answered on 11 Mar 2015:

      Hi Zoe,

      Most of the maths that I use is more to do with probabilistic calculations to determine the probability of an unsafe event occurring in order to try and establish if the event will occur more or less than an previously set target. I also use maths quite a lot in failure cases for systems. This means that you model the way in which a system may fails (taking account of all the component parts) and then work using failure data you get get for those components you can determine how often the system might fail. If you can work out how often something might fail you can then start to work out how often it might hurt someone.

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