Science a GoGo's Home Page Forums General Discussion Not-Quite-Science Forum ALGEBRA a discussion about ALGEBRA

I have just re-read the earlier posts, and I think TFF covered my last question en passant.

that just might work !!

you can actually see the difference , but when talking on the phone would it sound different?

if people understand the difference between square and squared the voice communication would be easy.

so I suppose if people who use math (all of us) knew the difference and knew how to express the difference in writing your sudgestion above would be perfect !!

unless the brackets conflict with other forms or methods of math such as algebra.

I'm off to the supermarket in the morning to look for square bananas. If I find any, I shall see how many I can arrange on a grid before they chuck me out. Wait for the results on SAGG.

ask him if he will sell you two bananas squared for the same price of 2 bananas.

if he agrees

you could use the tiles on the supermarket floor.

and lay out 4 bananas , 1 on each of 4 tiles in a square.

and show him that the 4 bananas are actually 2 bananas squared.

and you can get the bananas at a bargain price.

LOL

Exactly right. Are you ever over on chess.com?

Exactly right.

4m^2 = a 2x2 grid, with each cell being a 1mx1m.
As long as you understand that 4m^2 = four square meters

and

(4m)^2 = a 4x4 grid, with each cell being a 1mx1m.
As long as you understand that (4m)^2 = four meters squared

I think I last played chess about 40 years ago. Now I find there are so many things I would like to do, and so little time to do them in, that I have to make hard choices, like keeping away from chess, resisting the temptation to learn Welsh and cutting down my numbers of cacti, because there is just not time to look after them properly.

1 blender

1/4 cup oatmeal

1/2 cup water

blend 2 minutes

1 frying pan

put the blend in the pan

cook n stir until thickened

return to the blender

blend for 2 minutes

add water and sweetener as desired

drink the potion.

this might just give you that extra time needed.

Good suggestion, Paul, but I'm not into cooking.

BTW, you didn't say if I should add cacti to the mix, or where I might have to spend any time thus gained.

you can find a similar product in the organic section in grocery stores or supermarkets.



can you eat cacti?




on this side of the grass?

LOL

I figured an active chess player would use the term en passant. In any case, I know where you're coming from, but I still play on occasion. We keep a set at work on a table at the end of the hall - and when someone walks by, she makes a move. Takes several days to play a game. I also sometimes play at the coffee shop - online at chess.com.

Yes, the fruit of many cacti are very good. I believe you can also eat the pads of various Opuntia Spp. although I have not done that.

A friend's hamster consumed the greater part of a Lophophora williamsii, without any ill effects. I believe this is because they have to be dried before they release their mescaline. (Lophophoras, that is, not hamsters)

There is a rumour that the hamster attained great size and lived for years under a paving slab, but I suspect that story is apochryphal

Just to bring the thread back on subject I should say that the slab under which the hamster is reputed to have lived had:

Length = A m
Width = B m
So, area = AB m^2

My wife says I should also give the hamster's dimensions in "teeth squared", but she doesn't appreciate the niceties of science.

TFF, In your Blogg you quote a verse from the Rubaiyt of Omar Khayyam. Which of Fitzgerald’s translations is that from? Many decades ago I learned the first translation, and I still remember enough of it to know that your quote is not from that one,

that is good information , you never know when you might
need to find something that is edible in the future.

I think they are also a good source of water , if not couldnt you place a large clear plastic bag over the cactus and capture the perspiring water that way?

or do cactus perspire?

sounds right to me , although TFF will most likely find fault in it , I can understand what you are saying.


so the communication is clear knowing that you are aware that
sq area = linear length * linear length

Just to make sure we agree on what is going on with the math under discussion, and because I haven't posted anything for a few days, I will do a quick review of the proper math notation.

Given: X = a * b = ab
This means that the quantity X is equal to a multiplied by b. The 2 forms are equivalent.

Given: X = a * b^n = ab^n
This means that the quantity X is equal to a multiplied by b raised to the n power. Again the 2 forms are equivalent.

Given: X = a^n * b^n = (ab)^n
This means either that a is raised to the n power and b is raised to the n power and then the 2 results are multiplied or a is multiplied by b and the result is raised to the n power. The 2 forms provide the same result.

Notice that there are in fact more ways to indicate raising a value to a power. This is what I have found to be one of the more common ways. It comes from computer programming where a common way to write an equation to be evaluated by the program is to use the ^n form. In fact if you provide appropriately formatted variables in a program the statements above would be successfully performed by many programming languages.

And in regard to how to handle units. When performing mathematical operations on units of measure such as meters (m), grams (g), Joules (J), etc the proper way is to use the same mathematical operations on the units as on the metrics that go with them. For Example:

Acceleration has the units of m/s/s = m/s^2 (meters per second squared). That is meters divided by time squared. Notice that the ^2 applies only to s, if I wanted it to apply to m/s I would need to contain (m/s) in parentheses. So m/s^2 is quite different from (m/s)^2. The first way squares s the second way squares both m and s.

The way that things work out you can determine the speed that something will attain under acceleration by the formula:

v=at Where v is velocity, a is acceleration and t is the time the acceleration takes place.

Example:

Given a = 9.80 m/s^2 (9.80 meters per second squared)
This is approximately the acceleration of a falling object at the Earths surface.

What is the velocity of a falling object after 10 seconds?

Acceleration has the units m/sec^2.

So: v = (9.80m/s^2) * 10s

Notice that I enclosed the 9.80/^2 in parentheses to indicate that the 10s is not a multiplier of s^2, but is applied to the whole expression.

Now rearrange it a little bit to separate the units from the metric.
v = 9.80 * (m/s^2) * 10 * s

10 multiplied by 9.80 = 98
(m/s^2) multiplied by s = m/2
Therefore: v = 98m/s

And that is how you handle units in science.

Bill Gill

I don't know which translation. I've read several different versions. I assume the quote you're talking about is about the Inverted Bowl which has been in all the copies I've read. I have three copies and keep one on my desk, but I just got comfortable and have no intention of standing up just now.

So long as a is a constant, everything you said is correct.

great explanation, Bill; one that even a "hitch-hiker" like myself can understand.

I'm just hoping that no one comes along and argues with it and leaves me confused - as usual.

I am interrupting to say that this topic is the funniest thing I have read for ages. It was the introduction of the hamster that made me write, when I got my breath back!

I don't understand WHAT YOU ARE ON ABOUT with the maths, but as a hitchhiker too may I say I am shocked at the casual treatment of the banana. No one in Oz treats a banana in such a brusque manner..... since the cyclone in Queensland wiped out all the banana plantations they are priced higher than ever before!! They got to $19.99 a kilo in some places and they were the little squidgy ones not fancy ones.!!! No one would be ill-treating bananas here at the moment!

I await the next instalment of whatever this topic is.