Imagine that your friend loves to plan parties, and he wants to be an event planner someday. He does not think he needs to know how to find a number between two rational numbers. He also says he will never use pi again in his life after math class. You think of some of the tasks he might need to do as an event planner:

Question

Decide how many cakes to order when a party could have as few as 50 people and as many as 100 people.

Choose a round table that is the correct size to fit six people.

Make a prediction about how much to budget for the decorations at a party when the customer is still deciding between $10 floral arrangements and $30 floral arrangements.

In your post, explain to your friend how he will use the skill of finding a number between two rational numbers in his dream career:

Choose one of the examples from the list above, and represent the example with a mathematical statement.

Summarize to your friend why he will need both rational and irrational numbers as an event planner.

Answer 1

Hey! I know you might think finding a number between two rational numbers isn’t something you'll need for your future career in event planning, but actually, it comes in handy in a lot of situations. Let’s take a look at how it might play out in situations you’re likely to encounter as an event planner.

Example: Budgeting for Decorations

Let’s say you’re trying to figure out a reasonable budget for decorations for a particular party. You mentioned that the customer is deciding between two types of floral arrangements: $10 and $30. If you’re trying to help them find a reasonable middle-ground budget for decorations, you would want to find a number between these two values.

Mathematically, this can be represented as finding a number \( x \) such that:

\[ 10 < x < 30 \]

A good middle point here could be $20, which is exactly halfway between $10 and $30. Knowing how to find numbers between two rational numbers helps you make suggestions that fit in the customer's desired price range.

Why You’ll Need Both Rational and Irrational Numbers

As an event planner, you'll often deal with rational numbers like costs, quantities, and measurements (like the cost of floral arrangements or the number of cakes). However, you’ll also encounter situations where you'll need to understand irrational numbers, especially when dealing with measurements in areas like design and layout.

For instance, if you’re planning a circular table layout, the size of the table could involve calculations with \(\pi\) (like determining the circumference or area). Understanding how to work with both types of numbers will enhance your ability to design spaces efficiently and creatively!

So, in summary, knowing how to find a number between two rational numbers will help you make informed decisions, budget wisely, and accommodate your clients' needs. Embracing both rational and irrational numbers is vital to your success as an event planner!