Yes, Spotlight is normally used to find results on your hard drive that match the query you type, but it turns out the Spotlight also has an affinity for math problems and can be used as a quick calculator.
Activate Spotlight by clicking on the magnifying glass icon on the far right of the Menu Bar. In the search field, enter an arithmetic problem such as 5 + 5. In the results, you will see 5 + 5 = 10. Sure, there is a calculator application, and there is also a calculator on the Dashboard, but if all you need is a quick answer, give Spotlight a shot.
Spotlight even understands order of operations (you remember those from 9th grade algebra, right?) If you enter 2 + 3 * 5 you get 17 as the result. (Hint: use * for multiplication and / for division) It can even convert fractions to decimals. Entering 5/16 gives the result 0.3125.
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This tip doesn't work with my iMac G5