So what was it today with maths? Oh yes, I needed to find out how long it would take me to get to my new client. But let's start from the beginning...

Today it's my story and how maths helps me. I am a mathematician, so I tend to calculate everything, even just for fun, yes. But if you substitute my tuition services for any services where people commute to clients, here we go; these people also might figure out when they need to leave to get to their new clients on time, right?

For various reasons, I commute to my local clients by bike. Recently, I got myself a rocket bike, so besides the fact I'm not so exhausted while cruising through the London-Surrey hilly landscape, I also know roughly how fast I am on average. It's 12 mph. Thank you, rocket bike with smart display =) (I still need to pedal, though, if someone would be curious about it...)

Google Maps says a lot about cycling and time spent commuting, but I know it was never really accurate. Either I cycle too slow, or Google thinks cyclists race all the time.

I knew the client was 7 miles away, my average speed is 12 mph. How long will it take me to get there? (I was curious about the actual time spent on the bike, not including unlocking it at home and locking it back at the end of my journey there.)

Classic maths word problem, hmm? Just this time from the real world! =)

Having a scientific calculator is a great thing – I still prefer an actual calculator over any phone/computer calculators. It's a habit. But you can see what I did with it – a matter of a few seconds... Simply find what part (fraction) of the hourly speed you really need – by dividing 7 by 12, as I was wondering what part of 12 is 7? It is 0.5833333... which isn't really helpful, right? So here's why I prefer a real calculator – press the "degrees" button, and it'll change such a weird recurring number into 35 minutes exactly – that's worth the effort to turn the calculator on, isn't it? =)

That's the magic button... it helps change time from decimal format to hours and minutes (and seconds) format.

Of course, it could all be done without it, but why not do things quickly when you can?

Now, I know it should take me 35 minutes to get there, as this timing is based on my actual average speed, which also reflects the usual traffic in the areas where I cycle.

P.S. The day before I was supposed to meet my new student, I injured my hand (hello, hot water bottle fails), so I couldn't cycle, and in the end, I took a bus instead... there are some things which even maths cannot calculate accurately... But most of the time, I find it very helpful =)