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pcbTIM
Alien Abductee
USA
6501 Posts |
 Posted - 09/05/2002 : 5:03:23 PM
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Well.......today I learned that calculus can make something as simple as finding the area of a triangle unbelievably complicated........here's an example (note: this is what I do everyday.....almost). (second note: I actually enjoy this!!)
Find the area of a triangle with verticies P<2,0,-3>, Q<3,1,0>, R<5,2,2>
Now.......normally i would draw a 3D view of this in 2D......but it's way too hard to do here......so we'll just skip this part......
First, we need to find the distances from P to R and Q to R, so we subtract the Px, Py, and Pz components from the respective components of P and Q.
a=<3,2,5>
b=<2,1,2>
From here, we use the cross product of a & b to find the area
Area = 1/2*|a x b|
= 1 |i j k|
. -*|3 2 5|
. 2 |2 1 2|
Then we break down the matrix........
= .5i|2 5| - .5j|3 5| + .5k|3 2|
......|1 2|.......|2 2|........|2 3|
Now we cross multiply the individual matricies so we can get an answer....
= .5i(4-5) - .5j(6-10) + .5k(9-4)
Simplify........
= -.5 + 2 + 2.5
= 4
There.....the area is 4. Any questions?
"A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent doing nothing." - George Bernard Shaw |
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enthuTIMsiast
Alien Abductee
6990 Posts |
Posted - 09/05/2002 : 5:08:35 PM
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Yes, one. How did calculus make that unbelievably complicated?
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I am not the albatross of love, I am the human ellipsis. I am dot dot dot. |
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pcbTIM
Alien Abductee
USA
6501 Posts |
Posted - 09/05/2002 : 5:14:12 PM
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Magic.
"A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent doing nothing." - George Bernard Shaw |
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enthuTIMsiast
Alien Abductee
6990 Posts |
Posted - 09/05/2002 : 5:17:05 PM
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Magic fairy dust?
Peace, and spread the carpet.
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I am not the albatross of love, I am the human ellipsis. I am dot dot dot. |
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pcbTIM
Alien Abductee
USA
6501 Posts |
Posted - 09/05/2002 : 5:21:29 PM
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No.......just magic.......with a wand.
(And when I said unbelievably complicated, I was referring to the people on the board whose furthest extent of math is Trigonometry.)
"A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent doing nothing." - George Bernard Shaw |
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enthuTIMsiast
Alien Abductee
6990 Posts |
Posted - 09/05/2002 : 6:00:36 PM
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Oh I see.
Peace, and spread the blueberries.
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I am not the albatross of love, I am the human ellipsis. I am dot dot dot. |
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pcbTIM
Alien Abductee
USA
6501 Posts |
Posted - 09/05/2002 : 6:51:23 PM
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Yeah......anyway....back to engineering and physics homework.
"A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent doing nothing." - George Bernard Shaw |
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enthuTIMsiast
Alien Abductee
6990 Posts |
Posted - 09/05/2002 : 7:05:46 PM
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What's your major Patrick? I can't seem to remember. And what year are you?
Peace, and spread the pineapples.
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I am not the albatross of love, I am the human ellipsis. I am dot dot dot. |
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pcbTIM
Alien Abductee
USA
6501 Posts |
Posted - 09/05/2002 : 7:24:19 PM
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Mechanical Engineering....and I'm a sophomore.
"A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent doing nothing." - George Bernard Shaw |
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enthuTIMsiast
Alien Abductee
6990 Posts |
Posted - 09/06/2002 : 12:28:19 AM
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My girl is a sophomore Chemical Engineer. Not that the two are all that related...but that's what her major it. Wait, maybe she's not a sophomore...she's 20..whatever year that makes her. Sophomore, probably.
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I am not the albatross of love, I am the human ellipsis. I am dot dot dot. |
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pcbTIM
Alien Abductee
USA
6501 Posts |
Posted - 09/06/2002 : 03:53:50 AM
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Did she recently turn 20? If not, she's probably a junior. but I wouldn't be able to stand that. I hate Chemistry. We (engineers) had to take it first semester last (freshman) year, and hour lecture was followed by a 4 hour lab. It was brutal. For one experiment, we had to heat some metal until it melted, which took 1 h 30 min.......and we had nothing to do in between.
"A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent doing nothing." - George Bernard Shaw |
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enthuTIMsiast
Alien Abductee
6990 Posts |
Posted - 09/06/2002 : 11:18:19 AM
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Nope, she turned 20 over half a year ago...so she's closer to 21, which I suppose means that she's a junior. Yeah, that actually sounds right. I'm not sure she just really loves chemistry either, but she's smart, and I suppose that's a good field, so that's what she chose.
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I am not the albatross of love, I am the human ellipsis. I am dot dot dot. |
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tericee
Alien Abductee
USA
2579 Posts |
Posted - 09/06/2002 : 10:39:17 PM
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MIT was really nice to engineers as far as chemistry was concerned. We had to have one class, but we were allowed to choose from one in the Chemistry Depatment (Intro to Organic Chemistry) or one in the Materials Engineering Department (Introduction to Solid State Chemistry). I chose the latter since it sounded less messy.
Also, no lab!
teri 
Did I mention that I finished a marathon? |
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pcbTIM
Alien Abductee
USA
6501 Posts |
Posted - 09/07/2002 : 04:26:30 AM
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I've heard Orgamic Chemistry is a real bitch. Thank God I'm not taking that class! But what is Solid State Chemistry? It sounds like a fancy name for Chem 100.
"A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent doing nothing." - George Bernard Shaw |
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enthuTIMsiast
Alien Abductee
6990 Posts |
Posted - 10/26/2002 : 2:14:00 PM
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| Yes, Organic Chemistry is a bitch. I took it and it was hard, and my girl is in it now and it's giving her hell. I don't know what Solid State Chem is, but it sounds even harder to me. Biochemistry (next step up from OChem) was tough too... |
Tim Reynolds Downloads
I am not the albatross of love, I am the human ellipsis. I am dot dot dot. - Leo Kottke
I hate beating people over the head with anything. We can all make up our own minds. What we don’t have is enough music. More music please. - Leo Kottke |
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pcbTIM
Alien Abductee
USA
6501 Posts |
Posted - 10/26/2002 : 9:22:17 PM
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| *shudder* |
Gay marriage killed the dinosaurs. |
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enthuTIMsiast
Alien Abductee
6990 Posts |
Posted - 10/26/2002 : 9:31:14 PM
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| *shudder* <- at calculus |
Tim Reynolds Downloads
I am not the albatross of love, I am the human ellipsis. I am dot dot dot. - Leo Kottke
I hate beating people over the head with anything. We can all make up our own minds. What we don’t have is enough music. More music please. - Leo Kottke |
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pcbTIM
Alien Abductee
USA
6501 Posts |
Posted - 10/26/2002 : 9:34:19 PM
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| Then you definitely don't want to be in my postition right now. I have a calc test on Thursday. It's primarily on partial derivatives. |
Gay marriage killed the dinosaurs. |
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enthuTIMsiast
Alien Abductee
6990 Posts |
Posted - 10/26/2002 : 9:45:18 PM
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| Yep, I do not want to be in your position right now. Although if I was, I'm sure I would enjoy playing the guitar like you can. Everything would have it's advantages, I guess. |
Tim Reynolds Downloads
I am not the albatross of love, I am the human ellipsis. I am dot dot dot. - Leo Kottke
I hate beating people over the head with anything. We can all make up our own minds. What we don’t have is enough music. More music please. - Leo Kottke |
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pcbTIM
Alien Abductee
USA
6501 Posts |
Posted - 10/26/2002 : 9:50:50 PM
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| No.....you wouldn't want to be in my position......really. |
Gay marriage killed the dinosaurs. |
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enthuTIMsiast
Alien Abductee
6990 Posts |
Posted - 10/26/2002 : 10:02:07 PM
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Well you're better at guitar than me. But you're right, I wouldn't. I like where I am just fine.
Flood control: 1
Jason: 0 |
Tim Reynolds Downloads
I am not the albatross of love, I am the human ellipsis. I am dot dot dot. - Leo Kottke
I hate beating people over the head with anything. We can all make up our own minds. What we don’t have is enough music. More music please. - Leo Kottke |
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pcbTIM
Alien Abductee
USA
6501 Posts |
Posted - 10/26/2002 : 10:13:41 PM
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Flood control: 284
Patrick: 0 |
Gay marriage killed the dinosaurs. |
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Fluffy
Administrator
USA
10739 Posts |
Posted - 10/28/2002 : 04:58:58 AM
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This topic has come up before:
http://www.timreynolds.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=753
And all I have to say is:quote:
Posted - 12/10/2001 : 5:11:40 PM
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calcuTHEM NOT calculUS
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Peace & Keep the Faith
Fluffy         
"THE MUSIC BUSINESS IS A CRUEL AND SHALLOW MONEY TRENCH-- A LONG PLASTIC HALLWAY WHERE THIEVES AND PIMPS RUN FREE AND GOOD MEN DIE LIKE DOGS. THERE'S ALSO A NEGATIVE SIDE..." -Hunter S. Thompson |
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pcbTIM
Alien Abductee
USA
6501 Posts |
Posted - 10/28/2002 : 05:46:47 AM
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| Dammit! Studied for at least 5 hours today.......and I'm not making very much headway. |
Gay marriage killed the dinosaurs. |
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Fluffy
Administrator
USA
10739 Posts |
Posted - 10/28/2002 : 06:28:36 AM
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| Give up!!! Calcul is not for US, Calcu is for THEM. Hence, CalcuTHEM not CalculUS |
Peace & Keep the Faith
Fluffy
"THE MUSIC BUSINESS IS A CRUEL AND SHALLOW MONEY TRENCH-- A LONG PLASTIC HALLWAY WHERE THIEVES AND PIMPS RUN FREE AND GOOD MEN DIE LIKE DOGS. THERE'S ALSO A NEGATIVE SIDE..." -Hunter S. Thompson |
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Silky The Pimp
Alien Abductee
3321 Posts |
Posted - 10/28/2002 : 11:34:15 AM
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| Booo calculus. Then again, boo corporate finance too. Anyone else have to take that? |
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Hooray for Calculus!!
