Consumer math comprises practical
mathematical techniques used in
commerce and everyday life. In the United States, consumer math is typically offered in
high schools, some
elementary school
A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...
s, or in some colleges which grant
associate's degrees.
A U.S. consumer math course might include a review of
elementary arithmetic, including
fractions,
decimals, and
percentages
In mathematics, a percentage (from la, per centum, "by a hundred") is a number or ratio expressed as a fraction of 100. It is often denoted using the percent sign, "%", although the abbreviations "pct.", "pct" and sometimes "pc" are also u ...
. Elementary
algebra is often included as well, in the context of solving practical business problems. The practical applications typically include: changing money,
checking accounts,
budgeting
A budget is a calculation play, usually but not always financial, for a defined period, often one year or a month. A budget may include anticipated sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities including time, costs and expenses, environmen ...
,
price discounts,
markups and markdowns,
payroll calculations, investing (
simple and compound interest),
[
"Wilmington University Course Descriptions",
wilmu.edu, 2010, webpage:
]
WU205
taxes,
consumer and business credit, and
mortgages.
The emphasis in these courses is on computational skills and their practical application, with practical application being predominant. For instance, while computational formulas are covered in the material on interest and mortgages, the use of prepared tables based on those formulas is also presented and emphasized.
See also
*
Business mathematics
*
Financial literacy
References
Bibliography
* Brechner, Robert. (2006). ''Contemporary Mathematics for Business and Consumers,'' Thomson South-Western.
* T. R. Ittelson, (2009), "Financial Statements", Career Press, 2009.
{{Consumerism
Mathematics education
Mathematical finance