iii PREFACE Math for Automotive Technicians is designed to help students learn and apply basic math skills. The fi rst part of this text provides 12 lessons that develop a mastery of basic math skills in the context of automotive service. Coverage includes whole number operations, decimals, greater than/less than, fractions, conversion, graphs and tables, formulas, measurement, and specifi cations. The second part consists of 96 case studies that apply and extend the basic math skills with actual vehicle procedures, data, and specifi cations. For ease of integration with curricula based on the NATEF standards, the case studies are grouped into automotive service areas, including chassis systems, engine mechanical, and electrical. Answers to odd- numbered practice problems are listed in the back of the text. Most CTE students take standard math courses taught by math instructors who may fi nd it challenging to demonstrate specifi c applications in a fi eld such as auto- motive technology and thus show why learning math is essential to career success. While these students may have received instruction in basic math previously, many of them cannot perform simple calculations or measurements and will not be moti- vated to improve their math skills without seeing direct applications to their areas of interest. Math for Automotive Technicians fi ts an applied math course that covers whole numbers, fractions, decimals, measurements, and basic concepts of algebra and geometry. The most signifi cant distinguishing feature of this text is the scaffolding of basic math skills into case studies that are specifi cally related to instruction in standard automotive areas, such as vehicle maintenance, chassis systems, electrical, and others. This approach allows for a true integration of math and skilled trade instruction. This text can also be used in programs where the automotive technology instruc- tors provide supplemental math lessons in their classes. This has become a very common phenomenon because of the expectation that instruction in mathematics will pervade the curriculum and because many or most automotive technology stu- dents need additional instruction in basic math.