MHB Real Life Applications of Ceiling and Floor Functions

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Ceiling and floor functions have practical applications in various real-life scenarios. Postal rates utilize floor functions, where costs are determined by weight brackets, charging a fixed rate for specific weight ranges. Tax tables also employ floor functions, with tax rates applied based on income brackets. Ceiling functions are evident in activities like boating or bowling, where fees are charged per hour or portion thereof, meaning a 40-minute session is billed as a full hour. These examples illustrate how mathematical functions are integral to everyday financial transactions.
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Does anyone know of any real life application of ceiling and floor functions?
 
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Postal rates are floor functions. Letters between weights w1 and w2 will cost c1 cents; those between weights w2 and w3 will cost c2 cents, etc.

Tax tables are another floor function. If your taxable income is between t1 and t2 then you pay p1; if between t2 and t3 then you pay p2, etc.

Any time you go somewhere and you have to pay d dollars for every hour or portion of an hour for boating, bowling, or laser tag is a ceiling function--you played for 40 minutes means you pay the same price as a full hour.
 
alane1994 said:
Postal rates are floor functions. Letters between weights w1 and w2 will cost c1 cents; those between weights w2 and w3 will cost c2 cents, etc.

Tax tables are another floor function. If your taxable income is between t1 and t2 then you pay p1; if between t2 and t3 then you pay p2, etc.

Any time you go somewhere and you have to pay d dollars for every hour or portion of an hour for boating, bowling, or laser tag is a ceiling function--you played for 40 minutes means you pay the same price as a full hour.

Wow. Those are much better, closer-to-home, examples than I would have chosen. Great job!
 

Thread 'Area of Overlapping Squares'

Here is a little puzzle from the book 100 Geometric Games by Pierre Berloquin. The side of a small square is one meter long and the side of a larger square one and a half meters long. One vertex of the large square is at the center of the small square. The side of the large square cuts two sides of the small square into one- third parts and two-thirds parts. What is the area where the squares overlap?
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