The Merriam Webster dictionary defines addition as: a part added, the act or process of adding; especially the operation of combining numbers so as to obtain an equivalent simple quantity.

This simple process of using addition to combine numbers is the basis of many everyday applications including: finance, cooking, and scheduling, as well as more entertaining applications such as: sports, gambling, and forecasting.

Addition is used in finance as a tool to sum up the value of investments, credit, accounts, and liability.

Balancing a checkbook is an easy way to explore how addition is used in finance; as the expenses and deposits in a month are subtracted and summed to find the new account balance.

More complex financial tools, such as investing and trading stock, also use addition in valuing and devaluing shares.

From money to cooking, an illustration of how to prepare a pot of rice can demonstrate how addition skills are used in cooking.

When preparing rice, addition must be applied as there is a proper ration of water to rice used, so that the food is not too crunchy or too mushy.

Scheduling would be impossible without addition as we use it to determine such things as: how many hours it will be until the plane takes off.

Following a sporting event involves constant addition when one wishes to figure how many time-outs are left, fouls committed, yards ran, outs in an inning, or simply how many points have been scored.

Addition is also used in sports to sum of the totals of individual stats for each player as well as game totals for goals, outs, fouls, time-outs, and points.

Figuring probability or chance is informative and entertaining, and would be impossible without addition.

An example of figuring probability is through a system of personal forecasting called numerology, which is a belief that numbers are connected to people by the exact day they were born.

Numerology assigns each number one through nine a list of attributes, which is then factored for each person through addition.

Addition is used to figure a personal numerology reading, for example: If you were born on April 3, 1980, then add: 4+3+1+9+8+0=25=2+7=9, the numerology number would be 9.

A card games like blackjack (also known as “21”) is another great example of how addition is used in figuring chance.

A player must use the addition of a playing card's value to place bets on reaching the number 21 or getting closest to it without going over.

Addition is in so many everyday applications for both necessity and fun.

Addition proves to be essential in every society of trade, entertainment, and education.

For more information on times tables, go to www.timestablesmaths.com.