Idaho Society of Professional Engineers
Friday Update – 08/11/06
UPCOMING EVENTS:
• August 14, 2006 – ISPE Northern Chapter Monthly Meeting – Ironhorse
Restaurant, Room #1, 407 E. Sherman - 5:30 pm Social; 6:00 pm Business Meeting;
6:30 pm Presentation - Lance Holmstrom, Deputy Administrator of the Local
Highway Technical Assistance Council (LHTAC) will be giving a presentation on
LHTAC
• September 19, 2006 –
ISPE Southwest Chapter
Noon Luncheon Meeting
• September 28, 2006 –
ASCE Southern Idaho Section Noon
Meeting
• October 27, 2006 - PE and PS
Examinations - Boise, Idaho
• October 28, 2006 - FS (aka
LSIT) Examination - Boise, Idaho, Pocatello, Idaho, Moscow, Idaho
• October 28, 2006 - FE (aka EIT)
Examination - Boise, Idaho. Pocatello, Idaho, Moscow, Idaho
• February 6 – 10, 2007 –
Idaho Society of Professional Land
Surveyors Conference - Coeur d' Alene Casino - Worley, Idaho
HOTLINE FOR MEMBERS
Are you an NSPE member with a question about engineering licensure, ethics, or
law? If so, call 888-384-4295 or e-mail. Please provide your 9-digit NSPE member
number.
MATHCOUNTS PROBLEM OF THE WEEK
Can you solve this MATHCOUNTS problem? The answer will appear in next week's
edition of the Friday Update!
Saving A Life In Minutes
When there are tragedies around the world, it is often reported in the news that
massive amounts of blood donations are necessary. Though that may be true, there
are people in need of donated blood each and every day. Regulations in the
United States allow people to donate whole blood once every 56 days. In a year,
what is the greatest number of times a person could donate whole blood?
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Many people are aware of whole blood donation, but many illnesses require the
donation of the platelets in the blood. Donating only platelets requires a 3-day
wait before a person can donate again. Starting on Monday, March 13, one student
from Stow High School (you have to be 17 years old) decides to donate platelets
and continue donating with three calendar days in between each donation day.
Another student from Stow High School decides to donate whole blood on March 13
and continue donating with 55 calendar days in between each donation day.
Eventually they will donate on the same day. On what date will they be donating
on the same day for the first time?
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Some students at Kimpton Middle School decided to organize a blood drive. When
asking others to donate, they heard concerns from potential donors about the
amount of blood their bodies would be losing. According to the Red Cross, a
blood donation equals approximately one pint, or 16 fluid ounces. The average
adult body has 10-12 pints of blood, and your body will replace the lost fluid
within 24 hours. If the body replaces the one pint at a constant rate throughout
the next 24 hours, how many fluid ounces of blood will it replace in the first
10 hours? Express your answer as a decimal to the nearest tenth.
Answer to last week’s MATHCOUNTS problem:
Letting x be the salary from last year, we can set up the equation $56,549 =
1.042x. Dividing both sides by 1.042 gives us x = $54,270.
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Since Greg is receiving two paychecks each month (as opposed to a paycheck every
two weeks), we can simply divide his annual gross pay by 12 to see that his
monthly gross pay will be $4712.42. If his take-home pay is only 75% of this, he
will be bringing home 4712.42(0.75) = $3534 each month after taxes, to the
nearest whole dollar.
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We are going back and working with his gross salary of $56,549. Dividing this by
12 tells us that his gross monthly salary is 4,712.42. Dividing this now by
three gives us that his limit is $1571 in rent or mortgage payments each month,
to the nearest whole dollar.
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We figured he would be bringing home $3534 each month. Subtracting out the rent
brings his remaining monthly total to $3534 - $1571 = $1963. This may seem like
a lot, but now figure out how much you would spend on a car, utilities,
groceries, savings, etc.! (Note, if you did not use the rounded amounts from
problems #2 and 3, and you instead used the pre-rounded amounts, your answer
will be $1964, to the nearest whole dollar.)
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We figured his rent limit to be $1571 and his monthly take-home was $3532. His
rent payment is then 1571 ÷ 532 = 44.5% of his take-home pay. (Note, if you did
not use the rounded amounts from problems #2 and 3, and you instead used the
pre-rounded amounts, your answer will be 44.4%, to the nearest tenth.)
If you want to see last week's problem again, click
http://www.mathcounts.org/webarticles/anmviewer.asp?a=834&z=107
Idaho Society of Professional Engineers
PO Box 170239
Boise, ID 83717-0239
208-426-0636
Fax: 208-426-0639
E-Mail: ispe@idahospe.org
Web Site: www.Idahospe.org
Idaho
Society of Professional Engineers
