Real-Life Math -- Solution
The 1st thing you do is calculate the total commercial time in order
to determine your total on-air time.
10:37:30 to 10:38:30
= 1:00 = 1 minute
10:42:30 to 10:44:00 = 1:30 = 1.5 minutes
10:49:45
to 10:51:15 = 1:30 = 1.5 minutes
10:56:00 to 11:00:00 = 4:00
= 4.0 minutes
Total: 1.0 + 1.5 + 1.5 + 4.0 = 8.0 minutes
Time
on air: 30.0 - 8.0 = 22 minutes
Minimum Exercise
Time Required: 5 minutes (warm-up) + 15 minutes (aerobics) + 5 minutes (cool-down)
= 25 minutes
You have a problem. Your total on-air
time is 3 minutes less than the minimum amount of time you need to do the
show. You need to come up with a solution that includes the time spent during
commercials.
You start by figuring out whether you have enough time
to present your 5-minute warm-up before the 1st commercial break.
10:37:30
- 10:30:00 = 7.5 minutes
Since your minimum warm-up time
is 5 minutes, you can do these on the air before the 1st commercial break.
Next,
you figure out when you would need to start the cooling down exercises to
demonstrate all of them on the air.
10:56:00 - 5:00 =
10:51:00
You need to begin your cool-down 9 minutes before
the show's official end time. But when you check you realize the 3rd commercial
ended at 10:51:15.
10:56 - 10:51:15 = 4:45
You
are 15 seconds short of the time required to do a 5-minute cool-down before
the 3rd and 4th commercial breaks. You set that problem aside for the moment
to consider the aerobics segment. You've decided that the only solution is
to have the audience performing aerobics during commercial breaks. This isn't
a problem since they're merely continuing an exercise that you've already
demonstrated. But do you have the time for a 15-minute workout, even including
commercials?
You figure out the amount of time you have between the
end of the warm-up exercises and the beginning of the cooling down exercises:
10:51:15
- 10:35:00 = 16:15
You have 16 minutes and 15 seconds
-- enough time.
You recheck the length of time between the end of the
warm-up exercises and the 1st commercial break.
10:37:30
- 10:35:00 = 2.5 minutes
The solution is clear. You will
do a 5-minute warm-up, which gives you 2.5 minutes to introduce the aerobics
segment before the first commercial. The audience will be told to continue
doing aerobics during the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd commercial breaks.
After
the 3rd commercial, you will immediately begin the cooling down exercises.
The cooling down period is 4:45 -- shorter than you'd like, but it's the only
option.
Kevin Brauch knows that you need math skills to succeed in
life -- he has to apply them every time he attends a budget meeting! Brauch
is the host of a television show that demonstrates fun things school-aged
children can make at home.
He favors projects that force children to
apply basic math skills. "For example, we built a weathervane, and for that
you need to know angles," he says. "The math is subtle but it's there."