Maths in electrics

[Bill44]

Hi, im about to finish my level 2 course, ive just retook my maths gcse and i have a D at the moment so if i don't get a C im not sure what happens. I understand most colleges require a C Or above for level 3 without an apprenticeship but if i got an apprenticeship with a company would colleges still take me on as i am more more than capable of doing the work needed?

thanks

 

[jpm646]

Yes I think so when I went college there were 2 or 3 lads that couldn't hardy add up you do have to do a maths and 2 other gcse subjects ( carnt remember what two) on the apprenticeship if you have below a C in your gcse's so it shouldn't b a problem

 

[Strima]

Maths was never my strong point in school however I learnt a lot afterwards.

As long as you understand the basics it shouldn't be too much of a problem, normally division and multiplication. BGB, OSG etc have the formulas written in them for the more complicated tasks, I found noting them down on some paper together with some examples helped me learn them quite easily, shame I've forgotten most of them but I know where they are... :lol:

 

[Bill44]

Yh Im fine with maths you actually use in the real world, just not the over complicated dribble they make you learn which has no use in 99% of peoples lives, never struggled once in college or the few days ive managed to work with an electrician (doubt they would let me do anything too much but ey)

Thanks for the replys

 

[Darkwood]

If this is deffo what you want to do then prove it to yourself and improve your maths yourself online or books, later in the course you will be required to do cable calcs, time/current curve charts in fact you'll struggle as a large potion of your learning is based around calculation, referencing values, and understanding many figures.
We took on an apprentice and although he got through his course his poor maths was letting him and the company down onsite so he was given his notice, its all good expressing that you can be accepted into the course and due to reasons i wont go into passing isnt as hard as it used to be but the issue is what happens in the real world and to be honest unless you sharpen up your maths youll be chopping boxes in all your yrs or bouncing from company to company till you get a reality check.... if you manage to get into the course my constructive advice is to knuckle down with the maths again and give yourself a better outlook.

 

[Darkwood]

Additional ... might of seemed a bit harsh but it would depend really on your goals, if your happy to work in the industry in a moderate to large company under the instruction of others then you should be ok, if you have designs on running a business or been at a level where you will be charge hand etc then taking the electrical design course would be needed and this is where it gets more advanced and a higher maths then basic C is a real advantage.

So decide what you want from all this, as you could always improve maths a little later but the sooner the better as it may restrict your progress, poor numerecy sticks out like a sore thumb to employees ... hope this helps.

 

[Inteificio]

The maths required as an electrician is very basic.
They told me that you do the equivilent of an A-level of maths as part of an apprenticeship. Total and utter BS. I have high level maths quals, if you can get a C at GCSE you will cruise it.

As darkwood says, knuckle down and study. You do not need to know many concepts.
You may even find it much easier than pure maths, as with this you are assigning it to a real life problems not abstract ones.

If you really relly struggle (one of my friends is discalculic, or however you spell it) then stick to domestic work. I know many sparks who only use the on site guide and look up tables. It is not good practice in my eyes, but in most cases sufficient.

If you do not get the 'C' at GCSE they a lot of providers will allow you to take 'key skills. This is basically long division and multiplication, if you can do that you should be OK. If you do suck you can do that test again and again and again. That is late primary school stuff.

One side point, if you lack a C in maths GCSE, it may not restrict your study, but it may interfere with future employment. Keep taking that exam until you get the C, even if they let you on level 3, take that GCSE!

 

[telectrix]

most of the maths involved is quite basic. multiplication and division. some, though is a bit more advanced, e.g. adiabatic equation. this used to take a few lines of caclculation , but some years ago, the calculator was invented, so that just by pressing the right notes in the right order ( sorry eric morecambe ) hey presto, the answer is there in harmonised metric units to the nth decimal place.

 

[Des 56]

The maths required as an electrician is very basic.​

Now thats a statement that I see large flaws in making inte

My view

Electrical theory has its basis in mathematics
Becoming an electrician requires more use of mathematics than almost all other manual trades,from practical situations to classroom theory
Advancing further than us common or garden sparks will not be possible without good maths awareness

Finally,difficulty or ease is relative to the person doing the task
What may be very basic to you may be very steep learning curve for another

Hows that for an alternative take :cool4:​

 

[Jay Sparks]

when I was at college I also had to do a key skills course level 2 in application of number and literacy (have I spelt that right).lol. It did help alot, cos even though I was good at maths, this course sharpened my mind, ready to tackle the hard stuff like transpositions etc. If U continue on to the level 3, ask if they still do the key skills as it is the equivelent to gcse grade a-c ( so I was told).



Jay

 

[telectrix]

but if maths skills in other trades are not required, above and beyond using a tape measure, why do plumbers have 10 fingers?

 

[Des 56]

but if maths skills in other trades are not required, above and beyond using a tape measure, why do plumbers have 10 fingers?

Obviously for multiple leaks
Also,the 2 index fingers fingers are for inserting in the ears when potching with electrics,so allthough they have ten.these 2 are in fact dual purpose

 

[Inteificio]

The maths required as an electrician is very basic.​

Now thats a statement that I see large flaws in making inte

My view

Electrical theory has its basis in mathematics
Becoming an electrician requires more use of mathematics than almost all other manual trades,from practical situations to classroom theory
Advancing further than us common or garden sparks will not be possible without good maths awareness

Finally,difficulty or ease is relative to the person doing the task
What may be very basic to you may be very steep learning curve for another

Hows that for an alternative take :cool4:​

Fair point of different learning levels, but the requirements are not hard.

The basis of all electrics is clearly maths, but in turn the maths itself is basic.

I have all the formulae written out in the back of my BRB. Each part of the formula has a little note next to it explaining what it represents, and where to get the relevant info.

At no point have I come across anything but VERY basic algebra and multiplication/division. Most of it is reading graphs and understanding what they mean.
The maths is so basic that I would be amazed that anyone who puts their mind to it would not learn. You do not have to know the abstract pure maths behind it, just the formulas and what goes where.

regarding key skills, I would be amazed if most primary school children could not ace it. To be fair most primary school kids would do better than older ones as they practice those sort of questions all the time.

GCSE maths exam is quite hard, A-level is phenomenally difficult (had a much harder time then that my math based subject at uni), the maths required for this is basic.

I appreciate that you need to be quite bright to get A-Level maths, but this is not at that level. All you need to succeed here is hard work.

 

[Inteificio]

In addition the pass marks are so low you could probably take all the exams (pre-2391) and still pass without knowing any maths.

My discalculic friend (at last count) had 5 goes on his key skills and could not pass. He got distinctions for his 2330. He got distinctions because he knew that he would get 0 marks of 35% of the questions, so made sure he did not drop a mark anywhere else. I have complete respect for that guy, he knew his limitations and worked with them, not made an excuse from them.

 

[Darkwood]

If its domestic your after as already said its plausable to persue a career with basic maths but the minute you go industrial or commercial then cable sizes, runs loads etc go out of the scope of rule of thumb, you need geometry when setting trunking if it isn't the commercial available 45 or 90 degree's.... your AM2 will require knowledge like this to set conduit and make a perfect set with no waste, i seen people fail not because they cant bend conduit but because they cant work out the maths side of it....
Also with regards to modern maths standards in school its has fallen (dumbed down) for many years now, your A level in maths is comparible to our 12yr old exam (30yrs ago i may add), if you couldn't relay up to your 20-times table before your teens then you were in detention until you learnt, most mature college students cant do that now, i still think anyone with a A in maths nowadays is well below the standards required by a lot of different business out there and what you tend to find now is basic maths been taught by the companies or college courses themselves as they have no other options which in my mind is eating into educational time you should be doing learning your trade.
It is a bit of a rant admittedly but we as a nation are falling to the bottom of the pack regarding our numerical skills and people whinge when people migrate to britain and get the job you thought you had bagged, a local company i know has just set a polish lad on metal forming and he's a dab hand doing the geometry and getting the sets etc right, he says he left school with these maths skills and all i see is he is well beyond what britain can produce regarding his mathematics excluding the odd exception out there.

The older ones will agree here the younger ones may feel offended but its not your fault its the systems fault and it all went into decline when they outlawed punishment physical punishment as kids got cocky and disruptive which stops the rest from been able to learn their subjects.... results fall then goverment are trapped as cant bring punishment back so instead make the exams easier... its been well researched several times with similar conclusions.