ABSTRACT
Being numerate, i.e. having an ability to add, subtract, multiply and divide whole numbers with some confidence, goes a long way towards helping you become competent at mathematics. Of course electronic calculators are a marvellous aid to the quite complicated calculations often required in engineering; however, having a feel for numbers ìn our head can be invaluable when estimating. This chapter helps the reader to, inter alia, understand positive and negative integers, add and subtract whole numbers, multiply and divide two whole numbers, multiply numbers up to 12 × 12 by rote, and determine the highest common factor from a set of numbers. It also helps to determine the lowest common factor from a set of numbers, appreciate the order of operation when evaluating expressions, understand the use of brackets in expressions, and evaluate expressions containing +, -, ×, ÷ and brackets.
