Math Playground
All topics

Topic

Money

Counting coins, working out change, and figuring out whether the sale is actually a good deal.

The math you'll use most

Most adult math is money math: adding up totals, computing tax, working out a percentage off, comparing unit prices.

Counting money

Add up coins and bills.

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Money & decimals

Cents are decimals of a dollar — every transaction is decimal arithmetic.

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Make an amount

Build $1.37 with the fewest coins — a classic problem.

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Wages & salary

Hourly, salaried, overtime — and how to compare offers fairly.

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Percentages & discounts

20% off — what does that actually cost?

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Interest

What interest is, why borrowers pay it, why savers earn it.

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Simple interest

Interest on the original amount only — clean and predictable.

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Compound interest

Interest earns interest. Slide the years and watch the curve bend up.

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Compound interest derivation

Why A = P(1 + r/n)^(nt) — and where every letter comes from.

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Budgeting

Income in, expenses out — build a balanced month.

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Currency conversion

Convert between dollars, euros, pounds and more.

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Investing basics

What a return is, what risk is, and why time helps.

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Annuities

Regular payments — how to value a stream of cash flows.

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Present value

What a future dollar is worth today — discount it back.

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Net present value

Sum of discounted cash flows — positive means it's worth doing.

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Internal rate of return

The discount rate that makes NPV zero — investing's headline number.

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Insurance

Pool small premiums, pay big claims — risk-sharing as maths.

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Rent or buy

When does owning beat renting? A comparison you can run with numbers.

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Investment graph

Watch a starting balance grow under different rates — interactively.

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What to do with money

Spend, save, invest, give — the big four moves with money.

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