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Post by pitbulllady on May 6, 2006 16:13:54 GMT -5
Man, I'd hate that. Oy, Algebra, I was always a Geometry person myself, and they have that old saying, if you're good at Algebra, you stink at Geometry and vice versa, not sure if it's true for everyone but it's definitely true for me. That was VERY true for me; I am SO not a Math person, but most artistic people aren't. Geometry is much more "art friendly", so to speak, since artistic people tend to have well-deloped spatial reasoning. pitbulllady
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Post by RandallBoggs on May 6, 2006 16:14:40 GMT -5
Tell me about it. Takes everyone in my Algebra class the whole period to take a simple test.
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Post by nauticusvergil on May 6, 2006 17:41:27 GMT -5
Man, I'd hate that. Oy, Algebra, I was always a Geometry person myself, and they have that old saying, if you're good at Algebra, you stink at Geometry and vice versa, not sure if it's true for everyone but it's definitely true for me. That was VERY true for me; I am SO not a Math person, but most artistic people aren't. Geometry is much more "art friendly", so to speak, since artistic people tend to have well-deloped spatial reasoning. pitbulllady Hmmm, very interesting Pitbulllady, now that you put it that way, that DOES make sense.
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Beboots
Randall's Head Servant (300-799)
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Post by Beboots on May 7, 2006 16:40:44 GMT -5
Hmm... The whole "geometry" VS "algebra" thing... I'm extremely good at algebra (because I had to learn it twice - I learnt it in Grade seven in Ontario, then when we moved I had to learn it again in grade eight in Alberta because the provincial curriculums are different), but ... not so good at vectors. I mean, I can figure out angles and stuff logically, but I can't draw the shapes for the life of me. ... which gets really interesting when it comes to certain physics questions - I get all the formulas (pages of calculations!) correct, but since I drew the triangles wrong in the first place, it all comes to naught (people can't run at seven hundred meters per second! XP).
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Post by RandallBoggs on May 8, 2006 10:50:00 GMT -5
And in the last years, the teachers even state you wouldn't be using this stuff in real life.
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Beboots
Randall's Head Servant (300-799)
Now, if you'll excuse me, there's a plague in Equatorial Guinea that I have to attend.
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Post by Beboots on May 9, 2006 16:08:55 GMT -5
My physics teacher is exactly so! We're always like "Really, monsieur, when are we ever going to use this, EVER?" and he frankly replies that we never actually will. We're survived as a species for thousands of years without ever having to count how many moles are in a molecule, or knowing how to calculate the exact tension a 400kg sign has. -_-;
.... A thought just occured to me. Boggs Board Members who take physics in the US and Britain? When you guys to calculations, do you do it in metric (ie, kg, m/s, etc.)? I was under the impression that the equations only worked with metric units, but I know you guys are still on the imperial system, so...?
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Post by RandallBoggs on May 9, 2006 16:12:47 GMT -5
Only Metric? It's just normal numbers.
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Beboots
Randall's Head Servant (300-799)
Now, if you'll excuse me, there's a plague in Equatorial Guinea that I have to attend.
Posts: 646
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Post by Beboots on May 10, 2006 23:22:28 GMT -5
Er, "normal numbers"?
...?
What's "normal"? I meant, as units, do you use miles and inches and junk, or do you convert them to kilometers and centimeters?
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Post by pitbulllady on May 11, 2006 16:06:04 GMT -5
Er, "normal numbers"? ...? What's "normal"? I meant, as units, do you use miles and inches and junk, or do you convert them to kilometers and centimeters? The only place in the United States, besides on our standardized tests, that I see metric measurements used, especially in measuring weight or distance or size, is in Louisiana, where I've seen roadsigns in both metric and the Imperial system, as well as in English and French. Most people in the US have no clue as to what metric measurements compare to. pitbulllady
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Post by RandallBoggs on May 11, 2006 16:30:27 GMT -5
Usually I just get numbers and work with them and don't ask questions.
"Same"
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Beboots
Randall's Head Servant (300-799)
Now, if you'll excuse me, there's a plague in Equatorial Guinea that I have to attend.
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Post by Beboots on May 12, 2006 7:50:28 GMT -5
So... how the heck do you guys do physics equations? I mean, you know, d=vt ( distance = (velocity)(time)) ? Your answer won't make sense if you do it in yards and miles per hour (just like it won't make sense if you put in in km/h - you have to convert them all into meters). Gah! I'm still stuck in physics mode. Sorry. -_-; And that was the simplest equation on my stupid formula sheet (so simple it wasn't even on the test).
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Post by nauticusvergil on May 12, 2006 12:53:01 GMT -5
Physics......
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Post by RandallBoggs on May 12, 2006 14:26:24 GMT -5
Oh! In such terms....I suppose we use the metric system... It depends on the equation and what your trying to solve.
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Beboots
Randall's Head Servant (300-799)
Now, if you'll excuse me, there's a plague in Equatorial Guinea that I have to attend.
Posts: 646
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Post by Beboots on May 13, 2006 13:47:12 GMT -5
You know what's cool? Grade twelve physics field trips. ^_^ (I'm not in grade twelve, BTW, I'm just taking a grade twelve level course in grade eleven). I had one yesterday, and we all went to the University of Alberta to do physics experiments. The first one, involving mesuring different light waves, involved quite a bit of eye strain on all our parts.
The second one was cooler, though - it involved these really neat machines that were about the size of a full grown man, if he were curled in a fetal position. They were all set up on tables, and were all tilted in a certain direction at a perfect 18 degree angle (to negate the earth's magnetic field). They produced a magnetic field, and you would send electrons through it, which produced a ring of light - the exact same process that creates the aurora borealis/australis (Northern and southern lights, respectively) in the earth's sky. ^_^ So... we essentially had mini circular northern lights in the machines, only they were just a light purple colour, not multicoloured. ...And they didn't move. ...But they were cool! (Plus, if you tilt the machines so they actually are competing with the Earth's magnetic field, they spiral instead of remaining circular - which makes them look more like the northern lights. VERY cool. ;D
In the last one, we made a magnet float in place (which involved a supraconductor, a single small fridge magnet, and some liquid nitrogen).
Afterwards we still had time to spare, so we had fun with the liquid nitrogen (for those who don't know, it's VERY cold, and gives off mist like dry ice, and is also extremely cool). We froze pen cases, exploded an eraser (it contracted too quickly when frozen and because it had air bubbles, it exploded when we took it out), and froze a balloon (which seemed deflated when we took it out, because the air particles inside were too cold to be bouncing about, keeping it inflated), but when it was taken out and got warmed up, it inflated before our eyes. So... awesome.... ;D
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Post by lizardgirl on May 19, 2006 13:50:13 GMT -5
Wow, that sounds amazing! Physics is a lot more fun in practise than on paper.
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