One of the advantages of identifying the general features of a calculation and then describing it mathematically is that the formula can then be used to work out different calculations quickly and efficiently.
Let's look at an example: The temperature scale
Fahrenheit temperature is "the sum of 32 and 9/5 times the temperature in degrees Celsius". What is an equivalent algebraic expression?
[tex]F\text{ = 32 + }\frac{9}{5}C^{}[/tex]