Electrical Installation Course & Maths

[electricwizard]

Hello all,

I have enrolled on an Electrical Installation Level 2 course. I've formerly worked in more academic fields, but I haven't used any sort of advanced mathematics in years, such as algebra, trigonometry, or transpositions in nearly a decade. I guess I'm asking for peace of mind as I am notoriously rusty with maths.

Has anyone else had trouble grasping the sort of maths that electricians use? And if so, how did you overcome it?

I've seen some comment that it is more about the 'logic' behind the sums, and that Ohms Law is pretty straightforward. I was also wondering if there were any books available so I could prepare in advance and not be too put off early on! ...

Cheers!

 

[Pete999]

Hello all,

I have enrolled on an Electrical Installation Level 2 course. I've formerly worked in more academic fields, but I haven't used any sort of advanced mathematics in years, such as algebra, trigonometry, or transpositions in nearly a decade. I guess I'm asking for peace of mind as I am notoriously rusty with maths.

Has anyone else had trouble grasping the sort of maths that electricians use? And if so, how did you overcome it?

I've seen some comment that it is more about the 'logic' behind the sums, and that Ohms Law is pretty straightforward. I was also wondering if there were any books available so I could prepare in advance and not be too put off early on! ...

Cheers!

Thats why qualified Electricians are a special breed of persons. All very well knowing how to put a plug top on and thinking you have the correct fuse installed, but why is a different kettle of fish.

 

[littlespark]

Rudimentary mathematics.
some long winded equations with cable rating factors but nothing too taxing.

 

[Lucien Nunes]

All you will need for ordinary electrical work is basic algebra and trig. AFAIK there's no S-plane, matrices, integral calculus; I don't think you'll have to solve a single DE. TBH some people seem to get by with hardly any concept of trig either.

I reckon the most important ability is to be able to associate what happens on paper with what happens in the real physical world. I often find people who can juggle the numbers, but can't look at a transformer and work out which numbers need to be juggled.

 

[Vortigern]

Get the book Andrew Butlers Basic Electrical Formulae. If I can do the maths anyone can. It is after all just basic science. Not too deep into trig, bit of SOH CAH TOA and using calc for that. Apart form a few very accessible formulae from regs nothing too it really. Just need a good teacher and you will float through it.

 

[C19rta]

View: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Electrical-Installation-Calculations-Basic-9th/dp/0415810043/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Electrical+Installation+Calculations%3A+Basic%3A&qid=1598460400&s=books&sr=1-1


I recommend this one for level 2.

 

[telectrix]

the maths involved is more basic than O level. that's 15-16 year old level. hardest part for me is remembering things from 60 years ago. I only remember what I had for breakfast as it's always a coffee and 2 smokes.

 

[Gary latto]

the maths involved is more basic than O level. that's 15-16 year old level. hardest part for me is remembering things from 60 years ago. I only remember what I had for breakfast as it's always a coffee and 2 smokes.

Same boat tel can't remember sod all and could have just read it ten minutes earlier , must be an age thing lol

 

[Zerax]

If you went to school more than about 25yrs ago... I think you'll find that it's remarkable easy... simple rearrangement of equations, knowing what milli, mega, kilo mean etc. and of course knowing ohms law.

From what I've seen, they like to make things far more complicated than they actually are, creating as many "formulas" as possible. And don't forget the exams are mostly multiple choice with 4 choices... so even an average monkey will get 25% !

 

[telectrix]

25 years???? try 55 -60 years (in my case. aged 14 was just trying to getting to grips with cm, as opposed to inches. never managed it. metric system is spawn of the devil. invented by french peasants after they'd chopped the heads off anyone with an IQ > 20.

 

[Edtwozeronine]

Link to an electrical science book I got on moodle back when I did my city and guilds levels 1,2 & 3. I have no idea how I passed the electrical science bits as I struggle with even doing Pythagoras theorem. The design part where you're basically doing calculations to decide which MCB you should choose from a table to suit a circuit are much easier.

Electrical Science.pdf (8.41MB) - SendSpace.com - https://www.sendspace.com/file/27k0v7
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This might help too!